Using the Collection
Digitized items in the Buddhist Churches of American records collection can be accessed through the UCLA Library Digital Collections platform. Physical items are available for research and are located in UCLA Library Special Collections and our off-site storage facility (Southern Regional Library Facility). Request physical items using the "Special Collections Request" links in the UC Library Search catalog record. View our video tutorial or contact Library Special Collections for more help on how to request items.
The Buddhist Churches of America records finding aid with full collection details can be viewed in the Online Archive of California.
More Information
About the Collection
The collection includes correspondence between headquarters in the United States, Jōdo Shinshū Hongwanji Headquarters in Kyoto, Japan and individual temples, as well as meeting minutes and conference materials, education-related records, publications, financial records and audiovisual materials in a wide variety of formats.
About the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA)
The Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) is a national organization of the Jōdo Shinshū Hongwanji sect in the continental United States. Formerly known as the Buddhist Mission of North America (BMNA), the BCA is the largest Japanese American Buddhist organization and is currently headquartered in San Francisco, California.
The Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) organization was originally founded in 1899 but its origins date back to the Meiji Restoration (1868) and the arrival of Japanese immigrants to the mainland United States. In the 1870s, Myonyo Shōnin, the 21st Chief Abbot of the Jōdo Shinshū ("True Pure Land") Hongwanji-ha, began sending priests overseas to study Western methods of religious education and propagation, ultimately laying the groundwork for the formation of the BCA. During this time, there were very few resources for Buddhist immigrants to receive spiritual guidance. A devout Buddhist immigrant living in California requested missionaries in San Francisco to address this issue in the late 1890s. As a result, Reverends Eryu Honda and Ejun Miyamoto visited San Francisco in 1898 to evaluate the spiritual needs of Buddhists living in America. In July 1898, thirty young men gathered at the home of Dr. Katsugoro Haida and formed the Bukkyō Seinenkai (Young Men's Buddhist Association). This association would eventually become the San Francisco Buddhist Church in 1905. Reverends Honda and Miyamoto also visited Sacramento, Seattle, and Vancouver before returning to Japan.
