o his (the Guardian's) heart.

Although the American and Persian friends are helping greatly the spread
of the Faith in Japan, the main object of their presence in that country
is to attract Japanese people to the Cause of God. Only when the Faith is
firmly rooted in the hearts of the people of that country can we feel that
true progress has been made; and therefore to see there are so many
Japanese believers, active and devoted in different places in Japan, has
been a great comfort and joy to our Guardian.

(signed by R. Rabbani)

(December 30, 1955)

[Letter of September 19, 1957]

To Mrs. Masao Konishi

The time is too short to spend years preparing yourself to teach by the
indirect approach. The world is ready for the direct Message, and it would
be much better to equip yourself to do direct Baha'i teaching.

(signed by R. Rabbani)

(September 19, 1957)

The following excerpts are from letters to pioneers to Japan and Korea,
1948-1957

[Letter of January 21, 1948]

To Mr. Robert Imagire

He (the Guardian) notices in your last letter that you sound discouraged.
But he feels you should look on the bright side of the work in Japan, and
realize that, after so many, many years of complete inertia, the old
Baha'is have been found--at least some of them--and contacts reestablished.
You are able to serve there, new people are hearing of the Faith, and the
prospects for the future work there are promising. It is a great pity that
a pioneer effort, organized and financed, cannot be carried out there. But
the present Seven Year Plan takes all the American Baha'i resources, and
at present Japan must depend on volunteer teachers like your dear self,
who of course are not as free as a full time pioneer would be.

In regard to the various questions in your last letter; because of the
difficult conditions under which you are serving there and the state of
the country and immaturity of the believers you should not be too rigid.
You should try and meet on the proper Feast day, but if it is not possible
meet as close to the date as you can. Likewise, it would be desirable to
observe the Ascension of Baha'u'llah and the Master, etc., at the correct
times, but it is not essential to do so. With such a small group of
Baha'is who have no proper literature except the Esslemont book, and need
to deepen in the Teachings, you should be very patient and not ask them to
do things before they see the wisdom of i