of the Regional National
Spiritual Assembly of North East Asia. To the Convention in Tokyo at
Ridvan 1957 the Guardian addressed these prophetic words:

"This auspicious event, which posterity will regard as the culmination of
a process initiated, half a century ago, in the capital city of Japan ...
marks the opening of the second chapter in the history of the evolution of
His Faith in the North Pacific area. Such a consummation cannot fail to
lend a tremendous impetus to its onward march in the entire Pacific
Ocean..."

Since that time National Spiritual Assemblies have also been firmly
established in Korea and Taiwan.

Hokkaido, the site of this Conference, first heard of the Teachings less
than fifteen years ago, and the first aboriginal peoples of this land
accepted Baha'u'llah just over a decade ago. Now you are the witnesses to
the beginnings of a rapid increase in the number of believers. Peoples in
other islands and lands of the North Pacific, including the Ryukyus, Guam,
the Trust Territories, the western shores of Canada and Alaska and the
Aleutians are also enrolling under the banner of the Most Great Name, and
next Ridvan yet another pillar of the Universal House of Justice is to be
raised in Micronesia. We are heartened at the prospect that from
indigenous peoples of this vast oceanic area, the Ainu, the Japanese, the
Chinese, the Koreans, the Okinawans, the Micronesians, the American
Indians, the Eskimos, and the Aleuts vast numbers will soon enter the
Faith.

The final hours of the Nine Year Plan are fast fleeting. Praised be to God
that you have gathered to consult on ways and means of assuring complete
victory so that from these outposts the Teachings may spread to those
nearby lands where teeming millions have not as yet heard of the advent of
this Most Great Dispensation.

The sweet perfume of victory is in the air, and we must hasten to achieve
it while there is yet time. Vital goals, particularly on the homefronts of
Taiwan and Japan, remain to be won, and everywhere the roots of the faith
of the believers must sink deeper and deeper into the firm earth of the
Teachings lest tempests and trials as yet unforeseen shake or uproot the
tender plants so lovingly raised in the islands of this great Ocean and
the land surrounding it.

As you and the friends in the sister Conference in Reykjavik bring this
series of eight Oceanic and Continental Conferences to a triumphant close,
our prayers for the