Tokyo Japan Temple

The Tokyo Japan Temple (formerly the Tokyo Temple) (東京神殿, Tōkyō Shinden) is the 20th constructed and 18th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, it was the first temple built in Asia. It has a compact style that was a precursor for later buildings in urban areas, such as the Hong Kong China and Manhattan New York temples.

The intention to construct a temple in Tokyo was announced by the LDS Church on August 9, 1975. The temple was built on less than half an acre, on the site of the former mission home in downtown Tokyo. The mission home had to be demolished for the temple construction to proceed. The temple is very compact, with a parking garage in the basement and an apartment on one of the upper floors for the temple president. It has two ordinance rooms, five sealing rooms, and a total floor area of 52,590 square feet (4,886 m²). The exterior of the temple is reinforced concrete covered with 289 pre-made panels of stone, which look like light gray granite.

An open house was held September 15 through October 18, 1980, to allow the public to see the interior of the new temple. Church president Spencer W. Kimball dedicated the Tokyo Japan Temple October 27, 1980. On December 10, 2004, a ceremony was held in which an angel Moroni statue was added to the spire of the temple. The temple serves church members in Northern Japan and Vladivostok, Russia.

In June 2000, the Fukuoka Japan Temple was dedicated in Fukuoka. Ground was broken for the Sapporo Japan Temple on October 22, 2011.

On April 10, 2017 the LDS Church announced that the temple would close in October 2017 for renovations that are anticipated to be completed in 2020.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Tokyo Japan Temple" and modified on 23 July 2019 under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.