The Church of Scientology in Tokyo, Jul 13, 2012 : Tokyo, Japan - Exterior facade of the "Church of Scientology" in Tokyo. Scientology was founded by L. Ron Hubbard in Camden, New Jersey in 1952. Scientology operates churches all over the world. It is not recognized as a religion in Japan and the Tokyo headquarters are in one of the less affluent areas of the Japanese capital. In the picture the sign with rainbow colored letters reads "Scientology" in the Japanese katakana character set.