LDS Church Announces Sapporo Japan Temple is Open for Public Tours

By Tomoyuki Miyauchi [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons
By Tomoyuki Miyauchi [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons
Public tours of the Sapporo Japan Mormon Temple will run July 8 through July 23.

The Sapporo Japan Temple is a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan. The construction of the temple was announced in 2009, by Thomas Spencer Monson, the 16th and the current President of the LDS Church. According to the announcement made by the Church last January, the temple’s public open house will begin tomorrow, July 8.

LDS Church Announces Sapporo Japan Temple is Open for Public Tours.[/tweetthis]

The temple will be open to the public on all days, except Sundays, until July 23. Following the open house, the Church will dedicate the temple formally on August 21, in three dedicatory sessions. On August 20, in order to honor the history of Japan and the history of the Church in the country, the youth of the Church in the temple area will perform in a cultural celebration.

The Sapporo Japan LDS Temple is the third in Japan, and the eighth in Asia. The Tokyo Japan Temple was dedicated in 1980, and the Fukuoka Japan Temple was dedicated in 2000.

The design of the Sapporo Japan Temple is Asian architecture-inspired. The temple is 48,480 square-feet and sits on 9.8 acres of land in Hokkaido. It is a part of a complex of buildings, including the Japan Sapporo Mission home, the temple missionary housing and the patron housing. The temple has a single spire on its top, on which the statue of the Angel Moroni sits. It has a stunning baptistery, a bride's room, a celestial room, an instruction room, and a sealing room.

Once dedicated, the temple will serve around 8,000 Latter-day Saints located on the island of Hokkaido, as well as in Aomori. As of now, Japan has more than 127,000 Latter-day Saints, serving in 267 congregations. The LDS Church mission was first established in Japan in 1901 by a group of Church missionaries. Among them was the seventh President of the Church, Heber J. Grant. This was the first mission established by the LDS Church in the whole of Asia.

The Sapporo Japan Temple, once dedicated, will become the LDS Church's 151st operating temple, worldwide. Four other temples were also announced by the LDS Church while the Sapporo Japan Temple was announced in 2009. The four temples are: the Fortaleza Brazil temple, the Fort Lauderdale Florida temple, the Concepcion Chile temple, and the Brigham City Utah temple.

The beginning of the year also saw the renovation and re-dedication of the Suva Fiji Temple.

Mormons consider the temples as “houses of the Lord.” It is in the temples that the teachings of Christ are reaffirmed through baptism, marriage, and other ordinances. It unites the families for eternity. It is also in the temples that the LDS Church members learn about their purpose of life.

Resources

Follow the Conversation on Twitter