William Axling was a native of Nebraska, educated at Lincoln, Nebraska and Rochester Theological Seminary. He and his wife were appointed as missionaries to Japan in 1901. For missionaries of this era, transportation to and from their fields of service wasn't quite as rapid as we experience today. The Axlings set sail for their first term on September 27 that year and arrived in Japan three weeks later.

The Japan they experienced in 1901 was a much different place than the Japan of 100 years later. They arrived in a much less sophisticated world - no passports, no visas, no shots, no quarantine, no processing. Even the customs inspection proved a friendly gesture. "American missionaries?" they were asked. After a bag or two was checked, "There, that will be all." Minutes after the ship docked they were on shore.

The Japan of that day was a man's world; the women's empire was limited to the home. She was not expected to raise her voice outside of that domestic domain. Wives bowed in obedience to the will of their husbands. When they appeared on the street the husband preceded the wife. If the couple had a baby or a bundle the wife carried it.

Axling's early work was in the small towns of Northern Japan, where nearly all travel was done by foot. Many days his pedometer registered eight to twelve miles, which he had walked with a backpack. Although it was considered a Western mode of transportation, he later obtained a bicycle which always drew a crowd of curiosity seekers. This was just another opportunity to tell the "Good News." He worked among the underprivileged people of Tokyo, founding centers which might include kindergartens, playgrounds, day and night schools, clinics, or a summer camp.

Japan had always looked at the United States as a model nation. However, in 1924 immigration legislation was passed, which prohibited Asiatic immigration not on economic grounds, but on the basis of race. This brought a dark cloud over the nations' relationship, which was shattered by the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor in 1941. The day after this attack plain-clothes policemen appeared at the Axling home, requesting they confine their movements to the premises of their home (i.e., house arrest). Their situation persisted for the next 9 months, although on many occasions their Japanese Christian friends brought them food and other necessities. Then the Axlings were told to leave or be deported. But just the next morning, Mrs. Axling was taken to a women's concentration camp and William to a men's. For the next year they were only able to correspond with each other by 50 and 100 word letters. They were returned to the US as repatriates in December 1943.

An anecdote concerning their move from house detention to a concentration camp seems appropriate here. The doorbell rang, and thinking it was the police, William opened the door with a heavy heart. Instead of police, he found the student head of the Christian Dormitory asking the Axlings to come downstairs and attend a farewell prayer meeting. The Axlings begged the students to leave, as fraternizing with them was considered treason and could result in frightening penalties. The student calmly replied, "We have faced that possibility and are prepared to take the consequences." Entering the room where a hymn was being sung the student remarked, "The Christian faith is not something that you can put on and off like a garment. If you are a Christian, You're a Christian. All in this room were Christian when the war broke out. We are still Christian and brother today."

In 1946 the Axlings returned to Japan, building a home in the heart of Tokyo's poorest section. He became "evangelist at large" for Japan and conducted services in more then 600 churches. They returned to the US in 1955 for retirement. At that time, their only family left was a Japanese daughter whom they'd adopted in 1923. In 1962 at age 88, Axling was awarded the "hato-tsue", or "Pigeon Cane", by the Governor of Tokyo. This cane is analogous to "the key to the city;" the possessor of this cane has the freedom to enter anywhere in Tokyo, even the Imperial Palace.