in 1968 japanese baháʼís began to travel outside japan. in 1971 the first residents of okinawa converted to the religion. in 1991 the community organized an affiliate of the association for baháʼí studies in japan which has since held annual conferences, published newsletters, and published and coordinated academic work across affiliates. the association of religion data archives (relying on world christian encyclopedia) estimated some 15650 baháʼís in 2005 while the cia world factbook estimated about 12000 japanese baháʼís in 2006.