was a Japanese industrialist and Buddhist missionary.

Early life

Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Numata was the third son of a priest of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism. He studied at Kyoto Heian Junior High School (today Heian High School) and was ordained a priest and sent to the United States as a missionary. He studied mathematics at

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. His ...

and obtained a degree in economics from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. During his time in the United States, he established ''Pacific World'', a publication dedicated to propagating Buddhist teachings and furthering understanding between the United States and Japan. Despite financial assistance from

Nishi Honganji is a Buddhist temple in the Shimogyō ward of Kyoto, Japan. It serves as the head temple of the sub-sect Honganji-ha. It is one of two temple complexes in Kyoto, the other being Higashi Hongan-ji, which is the head temple of the sub-sect � ...

and

Shibusawa Eiichi was a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism", having introduced Western capitalism to Japan after the Meiji Restoration. He introduced many economic reforms including use of double-entry accounting, ...

, the publication ran out of funds and closed after four years.

Business career

Numata returned to Japan at the age of 33 and was employed as a statistician by the Japanese government. In 1936 he left his government job to establish Mitutoyo, which was the first Japanese company to manufacture precision

micrometer Micrometer can mean: * Micrometer (device), used for accurate measurements by means of a calibrated screw * Micrometre The micrometre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights ...

s. The company was successful, primarily due to army contracts and later as a result of the

Japanese economic miracle The Japanese economic miracle () refers to a period of economic growth in the post–World War II Japan. It generally refers to the period from 1955, around which time the per capita gross national income of the country recovered to pre-war leve ...

, and eventually diversified into a variety of precision measuring instruments.

Missionary career

In 1965, Numata founded the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism (Ja: Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, generally known in English by its initials BDK), with a mission of distributing Buddhist teachings around the world. Its book ''The Teaching of Buddha'' has been distributed in Japanese hotel rooms just as the

Gideon Bible Gideons International is an evangelical Christian association for men founded in 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin, whose primary activity is distributing free copies of the Bible worldwide. It distributes complete Bibles or portions thereof in over ...

is often found in American hotel rooms. In 1986 Numata initiated a project to translate the entire

Taishō Tripiṭaka The ''Taishō Tripiṭaka'' (; Japanese: ''Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō''; " Taishō Revised Tripiṭaka") is a definitive edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon and its Japanese commentaries used by scholars in the 20th century. The name is abbr ...

into English, an endeavor which is expected to require as long as a century to complete. Numata remained active in the propagation of

Shin Buddhism Shin may refer to: Biology * The front part of the leg below the knee * Shinbone, the tibia, the larger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates Names * Shin (given name) (Katakana: シン, Hiragana: しん), a Japanese g ...

throughout the Western world, establishing temples in Virginia (such as

Ekoji Buddhist Temple is a temple of the Jōdo Shinshū Hongwanji-ha Japanese Buddhist sect in Fairfax Station, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. It is a member of the Buddhist Churches of America, the oldest Buddhist organization in the mainland United States. E ...

) and Germany as well as providing various Buddhist scholarships.

Personal life

Numata’s son, Toshihide Numata (1933–2017), served as President of Mitutoyo and Chairman of BDK. Under his leadership, he expanded the number of Numata Chair programs in Buddhist Studies at universities worldwide and oversaw the development of various educational and charitable initiatives.https://www.bdkamerica.org/remembering-rev-toshihide-numata/His grandson, Yoshiaki Numata, is currently the President of Mitutoyo and Chairman of BDK.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Numata, Yehan 1897 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Buddhists 20th-century Japanese businesspeople Hollywood High School alumni Japanese Buddhist clergy Japanese Buddhist missionaries Japanese company founders Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist priests People from Hiroshima Prefecture People related to Jōdo Shinshū Pure Land Buddhists Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class University of California, Berkeley alumni