View source for Okumura Takie

[[File:Makiki-church.jpg|right|thumb|400px|The Makiki Christian Church, established by Okumura in [[1904]]. This building, inspired by [[Azuchi-Momoyama Period|late Sengoku]] or [[Edo period]] [[castle]] architecture, dates to 1932.]]

Rev. Okumura Takie was a Christian missionary active in Hawaii in the early years of the 20th century. He played a prominent role in the origins of the [[Japanese Christians in Hawaii|Japanese Christian community in Hawaii]], as well as in establishing or supporting other aspects of the Japanese community in the islands.

A native of [[Kochi|Kôchi]] and a graduate of [[Doshisha University|Dôshisha University]] in [[Kyoto]], Okumura first arrived in Hawaii in [[1894]]. In [[1896]], he returned to Hawaii with his wife, Ogawa Katsu, who he had married in [[1886]], and three children. That same year, he established the first [[Japanese schools in Hawaii|Japanese-language school in Honolulu]],<ref>The second in the islands, another having already been founded on Maui by [[Fukuda Seiji]]. (Odo and Sinoto, 127.)</ref> and in [[1904]], became the head of the Japanese Christian Church in Nu'uanu, establishing a second mission in Makiki at that time.

Okumura also established the first Japanese baseball team in Hawaii in [[1901]], consisting of students from his boarding school.<ref>Odo and Sinoto, 78-79.</ref> His wife Katsu, who ultimately bore thirteen children, was active in helping Okumura in all his various projects, and especially in overseeing the boarding school, known as Okumura House.

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==References==
*Franklin Odo and Kazuko Sinoto, ''A Pictorial History of the Japanese in Hawaii'' 1885-1924, Bishop Museum (1985), 77, 107. 
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[[Category:Meiji Period]]
[[Category:Christians]]