On June 21, 1939, in one fell swoop, 130 members of the Todaisha (meaning “Lighthouse Association,” as the local organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses was then called) were arrested and imprisoned, effectively ending organized activity during the war years.

Unhappily, the branch overseer apostatized under the pressure. With a few loyal exceptions, such as the Ishii and Miura families, most of the Todaisha followed him in quitting Jehovah’s service. The failure of this group can be attributed also to their following a man, Junzo Akashi. He adopted the traditional Japanese custom of polygamy, even though he already had a wife. She continued to pioneer faithfully for 40 years and more in New York, and she is still fondly remembered by some in West Manhattan as Sister Ogawachi. When Gilead missionaries entered Japan after the war, they located a large group of Todaisha in Osaka. These charged money for baptisms, and even worse, they had followed Akashi in adopting a very immoral life-style. They declined to give up that way of life; so for the purity of the congregation, some 30 of them had to be disfellowshipped.

In contrast, consider Jizo and Matsue Ishii, who were among the first Japanese colporteurs. They covered the entire country during the years 1929 to 1939. In June 1939 they were arrested and jailed in Sendai. Matsue still remembers her first year of solitary confinement in a tiny, filthy, flea-infested cell. She was not allowed to shower or bathe, and her flesh was eaten by bedbugs. She was reduced to 70 pounds [30 kg], just skin and bones, and came to be near death. On being sent to another prison, she regained some of her health, and she was released toward the end of 1944. Her husband received like treatment, and later he showed his integrity also when he refused blood transfusions. (Acts 21:25) He died at 71 years of age. Matsue has continued as a faithful Witness to this day. She remarks: “Most of those from before the war who excelled in ability and intellect left God’s organization when subjected to great pressure. . . . Those who remained faithful had no special abilities and were inconspicuous. Surely all of us must trust in Jehovah with all our heart.”—Prov. 3:5.

Another faithful couple were Katsuo and Hagino Miura, who entered the colporteur service in 1931. They too were arrested in 1939, in Hiroshima. They refused to worship the emperor or support Japan’s militarism. Katsuo was severely beaten, and he suffered in confinement until an atom bomb destroyed the prison in August 1945. Though he was only 38, his health had been ruined. On release, he looked like an old man. He returned north to Ishinomori, where Hagino, released earlier, was raising their young son, Tsutomu.