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The use ofEsperanto in Japan (in Japanese: 日本のエスペラント) dates back to the 19th century.
Esperantists briefly increased in Japan in the 1880s, along with the interest in theplanned languageVolapük. In 1906, after theRusso-Japanese War, the Japan Esperanto Association was founded by the anarchist Osugi Sakae.[1]Early learners of Esperanto included Japanese novelistFutabatei Shimei, translatorUjaku Akita and anarchistŌsugi Sakae.
An influential student group known as theShinjinkai (新人会) hosted debates with fellow Korean and Chinese students in Esperanto, and theBaháʼí Faith mission headed byVasili Eroshenko andAgnes Baldwin Alexander was influential in spreading Esperanto along with Christian missions.Esperanto chants were shouted during the visit of Indian Nobel Prize winnerRabindranath Tagore to Japan.TheJapanese Esperanto Association was founded in 1919.Japan had its second boom in Esperanto from the 1920s to 1940s, with some Esperanto speakers in Japan beginning to publish their own Esperanto material.Esperanto was used by both left-wing and right-wing movements, but the left wing faced a significant decline in the 1930s.[2]
Beginning in 1922, theOomoto religion, under the guidance of its founderOnisaburo Deguchi started using Esperanto in order to present itself as aworld religion and to promote interreligious dialogue.[1] Many Oomoto facilities inKameoka, Kyoto have multilingual signs in Japanese and Esperanto. Today, Oomoto continues to publish books, periodicals, pamphlets, and websites in Esperanto.[3]
The Japanese Esperantist Shigeki Maeda actively translates Oomoto materials from Japanese to Esperanto, which are in turn translated from Esperanto to Portuguese and English.[4]
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