BY-LAWS OF FAR EAST LODGE NO. 1, F.&A.M.
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN

UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE MOST WORSHIPFUL
GRAND LODGE OF JAPAN

REVISED 03 SEPTEMBER 2011
APPROVED BY GRAND LODGE
26 NOVEMBER 2011

BY-LAWS OF FAR EAST LODGE NO. 1, F.&A.M.

ARTICLE I • Of Name and Officers

Section 1 The Lodge shall be known by the name of Far East Lodge No. 1, of Free and Accepted Masons, and it officers shall consist of a Master, a Senior Warden, a Junior Warden, a Treasurer, a Secretary, a Chaplain, a Marshal, a Senior Deacon, a Junior Deacon, two Stewards, a Tyler, and such other officers as the Lodge may deem proper to appoint.

ARTICLE II • Of Elections and Appointments

Section 1 The Master, the Senior and Junior Wardens, the Treasurer and the Secretary, shall be elected by ballot, in conformity with Articles 100, 100a and 100b of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge. The other officers shall be appointed by the Master, except the Junior Deacon, who may be appointed by the Senior Warden. Any Master Mason in good standing, whether or not a member of the Lodge, may be appointed Tyler.

Section 2 No member shall solicit for himself or for any other member of any Lodge any elective of appointive office in a Lodge, nor shall any electioneering, canvassing or soliciting of votes or support, for any member be allowed. Nominations of candidates for office shall not be made. A violation of this section shall be deemed unmasonic conduct and shall subject the offender to such discipline as the Lodge may determine. This section shall be read in open lodge by the Master at the stated meetings of October, November, and December of each year.

ARTICLE III • Of Meetings of the Lodge

Section 1 The Stated Meetings of this Lodge shall be holden on the first Saturday in each month at 1:00 P. M. o'clock, except August when there will be no meetings..

Section 2 Special meetings may be called from time to time, as the Lodge, or the presiding officer thereof, may direct.

Section 3 The Grand Master is empowered to approve the petition of any Lodge for a vacation period providing that no Stated Meeting shall be held during said period, which period shall in no case exceed three consecutive Stated Meetings.

Section 4 To conduct business at a Stated Meeting, a quorum which will consist of at least seven Master Masons of the Lodge in good standing. To Perform degree work, the number and degree of persons as required by the ritual of that degree. (ADDED TO COMPLY WITH CONSTITUTION)

Section 5 To conduct work in any degree, at least one of the following must be in attendance, the Installed Master, Senior Warden or Junior Warden. (ADDED TO COMPLY WITH CONSTITUTION)

ARTICLE IV • Of Initiation and Membership

Section 1 All petitions for initiation or affiliation must be signed by the petitioner and be recommended by two members of the Lodge and accompanied by two passport sized photographs of the petitioner. A duplicate of every such petition shall be forwarded immediately to the Grand Secretary for publication. Every such petition shall be referred to a committee of three, whose duty it shall be to report thereon at the next stated meeting, unless further time be granted, when the applicant shall be balloted for and received or rejected.

Section 2 If an applicant, elected to receive the degrees in this Lodge, does not come forward to be initiated within three (3) months thereafter, the fee shall be forfeited, unless the Lodge shall otherwise direct.

Section 3 Every person raised to the degree of Master Mason in this Lodge, except when such degree shall have been conferred at the request of another Lodge, or elected to be a member thereof, shall sign its By-Laws.

Section 4 In accordance with RESOLUTION dated 6 November 1968 (Appendix A hereto), as provided therein, and in accordance with Articles 137 and 137a of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge, every member of this Lodge shall be entitled to become a Life Member of this Lodge by paying the prescribed fee as set forth in Section 3 Article VIII, of these By-Laws.

ARTICLE V • Of the Treasurer

Section 1 The Treasurer shall receive all monies from the Secretary; shall keep a just and accurate account thereof; and shall pay the same out only upon an order duly signed by the Master, and countersigned by the Secretary. He shall at the Stated Meetings in June and December of each year, submit a report in full of the Monetary transactions of the Lodge. The Lodge may also, at any time when considered necessary, cause him to present an account of his receipts and disbursements, and of the amount of funds on hand.

Section 2 He shall, if required by the Lodge, execute a good and sufficient bond to the Master, for the faithful performance of his duties.

ARTICLE VI • Of the Secretary

Section 1 The Secretary shall keep a faithful record of all proceedings proper to be written; shall transmit a copy of the same to the Grand Lodge when required; shall keep a separate account for each member of the Lodge; shall report at the Stated Meetings in May and November of each year, the amounts due by each; shall receive all moneys due the Lodge, and pay the same over to the Treasurer; and shall perform all such other duties as may properly pertain to his office.

Section 2 He shall receive for his services a compensation which may annually be fixed by the Lodge, and when so required by the Lodge shall file a bond in sufficient amount in favor of the Master as guaranty of the faithful performance of his duties; provided that until all current obligations of the Lodge are paid, he shall not collect nor be paid more than l,800 Yen a month.

ARTICLE VII • Of the Tyler

Section 1 The Tyler, in addition to the necessary duties of his office, shall serve all notices and summonses, and perform such other services as may be required of him by the Lodge.

Section 2 He shall receive such compensation for his services as the Lodge may direct.

ARTICLE VIII • Of Fees

Section 1 The table of fees for this Lodge shall be as follows:

  1. For the three degrees the sum of 60,000 Yen;
  2. For the degree of Fellow Craft and Master Mason, when the first degree shall have been received in another Lodge and providing the degrees are not being conferred as courtesy for another Lodge, the sum of 40,000 Yen;
  3. For the degree of Master Mason, when the first and second degree shall have been received in another Lodge and providing the degree is not being conferred as courtesy for another Lodge, the sum of 20,000 Yen;
  4. For affiliation or dual membership, the sum of 5,000 Yen.

Section 2 The fee for each of the foregoing shall accompany the several petitions or applications, else they shall not be presented by the Secretary to the Lodge.

Section 3 The fee for Life Membership in this Lodge will be as may be fixed by the Lodge from time to time but in no case will it be less than twelve (12) times the Annual Dues nor will an increase in Annual Dues be retroactively applied to Life Members already on the rolls; PROVIDING that upon the death of a Life Member, should the Lodge choose or vote to refund the fee as provided by the Constitution, those Members who purchased Life Membership at a fee less than that prescribed by the Lodge at the time of their death, will not be refunded an amount in excess of the amount they paid when they became Life Members. The Life Membership fee may be paid in installments, PROVIDING the entire fee is paid in the same calendar year; PROVIDING FURTHER that all partially paid Life Membership fees shall be carried over to the next year MINUS the Annual Dues for the preceding year.

ARTICLE IX • Of Dues

Section 1 The dues of each local resident (in Japan) Member of this Lodge (except for Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft Masons) shall be three times (3x) the sum of the Grand Lodge per capita tax, conforming to Section 2 Article 83 of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Japan, payable annually in advance. No dues shall be paid by a Brother in respect of the year in which he is raised or affiliated or becomes a Dual Member.

Section 2 The dues of each overseas Member shall be 60.00 USD, payable annually in advance.

Section 3 No member, who shall be in arrears for dues at the time of the annual election, shall be permitted to vote, or shall be eligible for any office.

Section 4 Should any member, suspended for non-payment of dues, neglect for the period of two years to pay said dues or have the same remitted by the Lodge, said member may be restored to good standing only as provided in Article 104a of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge.

Section 5 Any member in good standing may withdraw from membership by paying his dues and notifying the Lodge to that effect at a Stated Meeting; but no recommendatory certificate shall be issued to him unless ordered by the Lodge.

ARTICLE X • Of Committees

Section 1 The Master and Wardens shall be a Charity Committee and will oversee the administration and operation of the Lodge Benevolent Funds, as established and included as APPENDIX B hereto. The Duty of the Charity Committee shall be to investigate the cases of applicants for benevolence and make recommendations. The Master may give casual relief at his discretion but in no case shall the sum given to any individual exceed 50,000 Yen.

Section 2 The Master, Wardens, Treasurer and Secretary shall be a Temple Trust Fund Committee and will oversee the administration and operation of the Lodge Temple Trust Funds, as established and included as APPENDIX C hereto.

Section 3 The Treasurer and Secretary shall be the 'GOLDEN 100 CLUB' Committee and will oversee and administer the club in accordance with the following rules;

  1. Every member of this lodge who attains a combination of age and lodge membership of '100 years' or more, who are not already Life Members, shall be made a Life Member of this lodge and the General Fund shall reimburse the Life Membership Fund in the amount of 67,000 Yen (or such amount as the fee for Life Membership may beset from time to time by the lodge); such funds to revert automatically to the General Fund upon the death of each Brother thus made a Life Member, and
  2. To qualify for membership in the GOLDEN 100 CLUB, each Brother, not a Life Member, must
    1. have been a member of this lodge for the full '100' years;
    2. have paid his annual dues for his '100' years;
    3. not have been suspended for non-payment of dues; ELSE such time the Brother thus suspended shall be added to the combination of age and membership until the full '100' years as a dues paying member shall have been attained;
    4. not have been suspended from the lodge for any reason than non-payment of dues; PROVIDING FURTHER that the 'effective date' for membership in the GOLDEN 100 CLUB shall be 01 January of the year following the year in which the Brother attains his 100th year, i.e. a Brother attains his '100 years' on 01/01/86. He will not become a member of the GOLDEN 100 CLUB until 01/01/87. Furthermore, he must pay his dues for the year of attainment, i.e. in this example, he must pay his dues for the year 1986.

Section 4 The Master, at the Stated Meeting of his Election, shall appoint an auditing committee, whose duty it shall be to examine all accounts presented against the Lodge and report at the next Stated Meeting.

Section 5 All reports of committees shall be made in writing when required by the Worshipful Master.

ARTICLE XI • Of Revealing the Transactions of the Lodge

Section 1 When a candidate for initiation or affiliation is rejected, or a brother reprimanded, suspended or expelled, no member or visitor shall reveal, either directly or indirectly, to such person, or to any other, any transactions which may have taken place on the subject; nor shall any proceeding of the Lodge, not proper to be made public, be disclosed outside thereof, under the penalty of reprimand, suspension or expulsion, as the Lodge may determine.

ARTICLE XII • Of the Order of Business

Section 1 The regular order of business at every Stated Meeting of this lodge shall be as follows, except as modified by the Presiding Officer when circumstances require:

  1. Reading of the Minutes.
  2. Treasurer's Report.
  3. Bills.
  4. Reports of Committees.
  5. Balloting.
  6. Reception of Petitions.
  7. Correspondence.
  8. Unfinished Business.
  9. New Business.
  10. Conferring of Degrees.

ARTICLE XIII • Of Amendments

Section 1 These By-Laws, so far as relates to the time of meeting, and the amounts of fees, dues, and disbursements by the Charity Committee, may be amended at any Stated Meeting by the votes of two-thirds of the members present; PROVIDED, That written notice of such amendment shall have been given at the Stated Meeting next preceding; but such amendment shall have no effect until approved by the Grand Lodge or Grand Master, and until such approval shall have been transmitted to the Grand Secretary. The Secretary of the Lodge shall note upon the minutes of the Lodge the notice of proposed amendment when made, and when transmitting an amendment for approval shall forward a certificate, under seal, showing that the Law has been complied with and that the amendment has received the requisite vote.