The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Japan began around 1950, when Reformed Presbyterian missionaries to China were expelled during the Communist regime change and took refuge in the major Japanese port city of Kobe. The first missionaries were the Samuel and Grace Boyle family, Rose Huston, and Mary Adams. Initially focused on ministry to Chinese speaking residents in Kobe, the work quickly refocused on the people of Japan. Additional workers soon arrived, and a program of evangelism and worship (using Japanese translators) began to bear fruit. A Japanese psalter was gradually developed, and the Covenanter Book Room was opened in central Kobe. In 1954, the first congregation was organized, now called Higashisuma.  From the beginning, the missionary effort was designed to create a local Reformed Presbyterian Church in Japan. Over 75 years later, there are now four congregations in the greater Kobe area.