Scouting activity decreased radically during World War II but slowly recovered; membership at the end of May 2017 was 99,779.

[2] Scouting was introduced to Japan in the autumn of 1909[3] by ambassador Akizuki Satsuo and Japanese teacher Hōjō Tokiyuki, who had visited England in 1908.

Joseph Janning, the Group registration was changed to "international" and boys of all nationalities were officially allowed to join the troop.

At the time of the coronation of the Taishō Emperor in 1915, Scouts were organized in Tokyo, Shizuoka, Kyoto and Hokkaido.

In 1920 three delegates, Toyomatsu Shimoda, Hiroshi Koshiba, and Richard Suzuki, attended the 1st World Scout Jamboree at Olympia, London.

Shimoda and Koshiba were both adults and, when they met Richard Suzuki aboard ship and learned he was a Scout, they invited him to join.

[3] The organization was reformed as the Boy Scouts of Japan in April 1922 by Count Futara Yoshinori and Viscount Mishima Michiharu.

[6] The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake brought the work of the Scouts of Tokyo and Kobe to the notice of the general public.

Count Gotō Shimpei, a doctor and a statesman, was made the first Chief Scout of Japan and tasked with the rebuilding.

As Minister of Railways, Count Gotō travelled around the country, and was able to promote Scouting in his spare time.

[8] Scouting in Japan suffered almost complete eclipse in World War II, and took time to recover.

This held Count Sano and others back from their sincere desire to restore Boy Scouts of Japan to its former correct basis.

The participant patch (usually embroidered or woven) for the first National Scout Rally was printed on paper, because of the financial situation of that time.

Other recipients from Japan include Hidesaburō Kurushima, chairman of the national board and international commissioner, in 1967, Taizō Ishizaka in 1971, Saburō Matsukata in 1972, Shintarō Negishi in 1975, Akira Watanabe in 1977, Yorihiro Matsudaira in 1981, August S. Narumi in 1984, Ichirō Terao in 1985, and Yoritake Matsudaira in 2012.

SAJ celebrated its 75th anniversary of founding of the National Scout Association in 1997 and hosted the second Asia-Pacific Regional Top Leaders' Summit Conference in Gotemba and Tokyo.

Scouting in Japan has grown steadily and established an eminent place for itself in social education for young people.

The aim of the Scout Association of Japan is to help young people become responsible humanitarian citizens, who can appreciate and practice loyalty, courage and self-respect in an international perspective.

With the support of volunteer leaders, the Scout movement in Japan provides fun-filled, challenging programs, with an emphasis on developing each young person's character, health, abilities and sense of service to others.

Since then, it has hosted numerous other international activities, including the Asia Pacific Top Leaders Summit in 1997, the Asia-Pacific Multi-Purpose Workshop in 2000, and the 23rd Asia-Pacific/13th Nippon Jamboree in 2002.