Stories: Omote Sando Dori by Conan Grames, et al
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 -- Add Story
| I can't resist the urge to reflect a little on the old Central Branch
property on Omote Sando. Coincidentally, we have spent the last three weeks
here in Tokyo and I have walked past the property three times and shared
these reflections each time with different people.
My first recollection of the old church which was Central Branch came at the
end of our first day in the mission (April 20, 1966). There were 11 elders
in our group. We spent the morning memorizing the seven phrase cards which
made up the basic street approach: (1) Konnichi wa. (2) Watakushi no name
wa Grames Choro desu. (3) Watakushi wa kino Amerika kara kimashita. (4)
Watakushi wa Matsu Jistsu Seito Iesu Kirusto Kyokai no Senkyoushi
desu....etc.
Then, to practice what we had learned, we "flew" in a taxi cab to Meji
Shrine, and I thought it might be my last day on earth. My desire to close
my eyes and pray was only overcome by my desire to view the sights as we
whizzed along the strange and incredibly narrow streets of Tokyo. This ride
eventually calmed down on a wide avenue known as Omote Sando leading to
Meiji Shrine.
Because we had a large group, there were not enough mission elders to go
with all of us so Elder Ken Bills and I went alone down a lane at the
shrine. I remember to this day the distinguished and white haired Japanese
man who became our first contact (or maybe I should say "victim"). He
listened very patiently as I struggled to recite the phrase cards and then
he began to speak. Of course, we had no idea what he was saying. We left
him with an eikaiwa chirashi, met up with the rest of the group, and walked
down Omote Sando to Central Branch.
Behind a wall out on the Omote Sando sidewalk was a large Japanese style
house with a pleasant garden. This was the Central Branch church. We
walked into the back of the chapel. It was full of young people at MIA.
This was our first experience hearing the Japanese langauge in a church
meeting. I was perhaps feeling some encouragement about the language having
memorized seven phrase cards and actually saying them to a real Nihonjin so
I listened very intently to the talks being given, trying to hear some
recognizable words. Not only were there no recognizable words, I could not
even tell where one word ended and another began. The reality of learning
this difficult language set in very strongly that evening in the Central
Branch building on Omote Sando.
Twenty months later (December 1967) and less discouraged about the language,
I transferred into Central Branch and only stayed for one month, but it was
long enough to experience one of those little miracles that defines
missionary work. In the summer before going to Central Branch, I was
companion to Elder Hume who was the zone leader in Hokkaido. One day he
received a letter from his parents in California about a foreign exchange
student from Japan who had been living with them for some months. I didn't
pay much attention, but Yoshie Iwashita returned to Japan from California.
She lived in the Central Branch area and came to church at the suggestion of
the Hume's to meet the missionaries. I have often thanked the Lord that I
was in Central Branch at the right time to teach those discussions. Yoshie
and her Sister, Kikue, were both baptized. Elder Hume was just leaving the
mission and, as I recall, confirmed Yoshie. His parents also came to Japan
to witness the event. Many subsequent miracles accompanied the lives of
these two sisters in the gospel, but that is a story for another time.
When I returned to my ward in Utah where Elder Gordon B. Hinckley also
lived, I heard him tell in person his experience of approving the purchase
of the Central Branch property. The facts are pretty well outlined by
others below, but he added one interesting detail. He said that because the
property was the most expensive per square foot that the Church had ever
purchased to date, he felt he could not make the decision alone. He called
from Tokyo to Church headquarters to speak to Pres. Henry D. Moyle of the
First Presidency, a man with considerable experience in real estate. He
explained the circumstances to Pres. Moyle and said Pres. Moyle replied
essentially as follows: "Gordon, you're in charge of that part of the
world--you decide!" Elder Hinckley said he retired to the guest room on the
second floor of the Tokyo mission home where the temple now stands and
prayed through the night about what he should do. In the morning, he felt
he should recommend that the Church buy the property on Omote Sando.
Many of us individually, and the Church collectively in Japan, have been
blessed by Elder Hinckley's inspiration. The sale of the property later for
almost $24 million had some personal significance for me. The law firm in
Japan which handled the sale for the Church billed the firm a percentage of
the sale price, rather than billing on an hourly basis as was their custom.
The Church fired them as a result of their attempt to gain this windfall.
This opened the door for me to handle all the Church's legal work in Japan
from 1977 to 1982 which included the building of the Tokyo Temple, the
purchase and lease of many pieces of property for the Church in Japan, and
the hiring of Kent Gilbert to help. Kent became a well-known television
personality in Japan.
As I walked down Omote Sando these past few weeks, I reminisced about
Central Branch and the experiences which many of us had there. Today the
Hanae Mori building stands on the property. As one of Japan's top fashion
designers, Ms. Mori's headquarters is appropriately located in what has
become a very trendy part of Tokyo. It is no longer a good environment for
Lord's church, but in years past, the building on Omote Sando was a landmark
for faithful members and missionaries in Japan.
Conan Grames
Tokyo
January 13, 2008
----- Original Message -----
From: "NFEM Webmaster" <wws1936@msn.com
To: "Conan Grames" <conan@grames.org
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 8:11 PM
Subject: [NFEM] Omote Sando Dori Answer
Here is the answers from 3-4 RM's: After the new West Branch building was
completed, the Central Branch was transferred over to Omote Sando location
where West Branch had been. This property was purchased in 1960, I think,
which at the time at over $600,000 was the most the Church had ever spent
for a lot anywhere in the world. Found by President Andrus, Elder Hinckley
strongly urged the Church to make the purchase. It was only 2/3 of an
acre.
Many thought this property would be the location of the Temple. When I
was
working in the Church Financial Department in 1973, Dee Groberg and I were
starting our business, Interac. I went to Omote Sando to see it. While
there, one of the brothers told of offers to purchase the property. The
church was planning a joint-use building. When I returned, I reported this
to Alan J. Blodgett who was then the controller of the Church.
Negotiations
began shortly thereafter and the land was sold for about $24 million. This
money was a great blessing in the building program in the Church in Japan.
Elder Wade W Fillmore
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Central branch that most of us knew was on upper Omote sando, up the
street
from the Harajuku eki and Meiji Jingu. They sold that property to build
the
Tokyo temple, as it was one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in
all Tokyo. Shibuya eki was one or two stops South on Yamate sen from
Harajuku. In my time ('65-'68), we never heard of the Shibuya place. I was
in Central branch from Fall, 1966 to March of 1967.
Elder Tom Tasker ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I arrived in the mission field in about October of 1962. At the time
Central Branch was still in Shibuya. But not long after I arrived
Central Branch was moved to the Omote-Sando building. I later became the
District Leader for Central and East Branches and lived at the Omote-Sando
property for 10 months, with Shuhei Maruyama as Branch President.
By the way, while I was living in Tokyo during my first tour there as a
part of the U.S. Embassy, the Omote-Sando property was sold and the funds
were later used to build the Tokyo Temple.
President Gordon B. Hinckley made the decision to purchase the Omote-Sando
property as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve. At the time, it was
the most expensive piece of property the Church had ever purchased for a
meeting house. But it increased in value over the years following its
purchase very dramatically. So, it was not a bad decision to purchase it.
Elder Bryant Wadsworth
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let me comment on item #2. The old Central Branch location has undergone
such dramatic change, if you haven't seen it recently--as in the past 20
years--you probably won't know where it was. Omote Sando is now a
sophisticated area often compared to Champs Elysees in Paris. This isn't
recent stuff; it's been a while since Central Branch was sold to finance
the Tokyo Temple. What is still there is Kinokuniya Super Market! I don't
know about the Elders but for us American shimais it was an oasis of
relief. Judging by the location of Kinokuniya which was up the street and
around the corner, I think Central Branch was close to where the Hanae
Mori
Building is now. Yoroshiku, Faith Watabe 1963-65
~~~~~~
When I was in NFEM 66-68 Chuo Shibu was at Harajuku Eki, near Meiji Koen
and up the street from the Olympic site. The street was purchased in a
revitalization to make it like the famous street in Paris (Champs Elysees).
The new street and revitalization can be learned at Wikipedia.com under
omotesan dori. In connection with this, the church sold Chuo Shibu branch
for $25 million and used the funds to build chapels all over Japan. The
same land is probably worth (1/2 acre) about $500 million or more today. A
new subway stop is very close to, if not on top of, the old church branch.
Yoyogi Koen, near Meiji Jingu, was carved out of Meiji Koen. It was built
in 1967. Elder Gary Porter
Webmaster Wayne adds: I had the same (but slightly) different experience in the same general area but actually in Shibuya.
Elder Turley took us out tracting/door knocking on our first day in the mission in Oct 1956. There were 4-5 of us and Elder Turley gave us all a card with the door approach and said "Learn this!" As I walked along I was so worried about having to actually speak to these foreign looking and fast talking people that I buried my eyes on the card in my hand and walked along trying to keep up. I did not see the low-hanging arm of a store front awning as I rapidly raced into it.
The arm caught me right on the Adams apple and spun me down feet flying, landing flat on my back! Of course everyone was laughing except me. I couldn't even talk or even cough! I eventually did give a very hoarse, raspy door approach, and I would like to say that the dear lady was baptized, but she was laughing uncontrollably, which is so uncharacteristic of the Japanese people, especially the ladies.
I never really cared for door knocking from then on, preferring Street Mtgs, or other contacting methods. But we did an awful lot of both during the 3 year mission back then. |
| |
|
|
|
List All | Add Story
|
