A vital snapshot of faith. The Japan Christian Year Book 1941 by Darley Downs places readers inside the organised life and recorded work of the Japanese Christian community during a decisive era. As a concise religious yearbook collection it gathers missionary activity records, denominational reports and contemporary essays that trace the reach of Protestant missions across Asia and the practical shape of church life in the early 1940s. Far from mere administration, the volume captures how congregations responded to social change, the pressures of modernisation and the rising tensions of World War II in Japan, offering granular context for prewar Japanese society while preserving voices too often sidelined in broader histories. Its significance lies in that duality: immediate reportage for its own time and longer-term testimony for researchers and historians in historical religious studies; it also functions as a practical seminary reference guide. Republished by Alpha Editions in a careful modern edition, this volume preserves the spirit of the original while making it effortless to enjoy today - a heritage title prepared for readers and collectors alike. Casual readers curious about Christian history in Japan will appreciate the human immediacy of its entries; collectors of classic literature and libraries hunting for authentic Christian missionary archives or items from prewar Japanese society will recognise its value as a cultural artefact. For anyone exploring Protestant missions in Asia or mapping the contours of church history in the 1940s, the yearbook offers direct access to missionary activity records and institutional memory, a rare bridge between contemporary reporting and long-term scholarship. Certain to appeal across audiences, it suits both the casual reader drawn to personal and communal narratives and the specialist assembling primary sources. As part of a religious yearbook collection, the 1941 volume becomes a node in a wider network of materials that illuminate how faith intersected with education, social welfare and national identity in late prewar Japan. For archivists and collectors the book supplements Christian missionary archives; for students and seminary faculties it provides concrete reference points for classroom discussion and independent research.