Rising Sun Lodge No. 151

The Name

                Japan, where this lodge is located, is also known as the Land of the Rising Sun.

The Lodge

Grand Master Clinton Carlson issued the founders of Rising Sun Lodge No. 151 a dispensation to assemble in Camp Drew, Japan on July 28, 1956. Two years later, on April 24 1958, the Grand Lodge gave the new lodge a charter. The pillars who were responsible for getting Rising Sun Lodge chartered were the officers for Masonic Year 1957: Carle Blackman, WM, Edwin Pearson, SW, and Charles Walker, JW. Assisting them was Jack Billingsley, who served as the first charter Master of the lodge in Masonic Year 1957.

Rising Sun Lodge was still working under dispensation when fifteen Philippine Lodges in Japan organized the Grand Lodge of Japan. Rising Sun was invited to join them, but it decided to stick it out with the Grand Lodge of the Philippines along with Yokosuka Naval Lodge No. 120 and Kanto Lodge No. 143.

On May 7, 1958, Rising Sun was officially constituted. Its meetings were held in Camp Drew, a U.S. Army base located in Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. In 1959 Camp Drew was closed and all personnel assigned there were moved to Camp Zama, Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The lodge's charter was re-issued to reflect the new meeting location. Since then the lodge has been meeting in the Masonic Lodge (Bldg. 733) on Camp Zama. They share the lodge building with Sagamihara Lodge No. 13 under the Grand Lodge of Japan and Pride of the Orient Lodge No. 55 under the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Washington.

In the early 1970s, the brethren of Kanto Lodge joined Rising Sun Lodge. The members disbanded Kanto Lodge in 1977 and returned their charter to the Grand Lodge of the Philippines.

Historically, the members of Rising Sun have been U.S. military personnel or U.S. civilians working for the military. Lately, most of the members are Filipinos, or of Filipino descent assigned to the U.S. Navy in nearby Atsugi City or Yokohama City. Being a military lodge, Rising Sun Lodge has had a very high turnover rate with most members staying in the area for only 3 to 5 years.

Location: Zama-machi, Kanagawanken-Japan