Lutheran Church in America. Board of World Missions. Secretary for East Asia.

When the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) was organized in 1962, three of its predecessor bodies had missions in Japan. These three predecessor bodies were: the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Suomi Synod, and the United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA). The missionaries in Japan of these three churches had been working with the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church and continued to do so.

By 1962, the missionaries had already formed a Joint Missionary Organization Committee to form a new enlarged Japan Lutheran Missionary Association (JLMA). This was the same name that had been used by the United Lutheran Church in America missionaries' organization formed in 1947.