This study examines Japanese social work in Korea and Korean reactions to it, using the case of Hwagwang Gyowon, a social work organization founded by the Japanese Buddhist Jōdoshū. The Jōdoshū, which began proselytizing to Koreans in the late 19th century, established Hwagwang Gyoen shortly after the March 1 Movement. The Hwagwang Gyoen opened schools, lodging, edification, medical care, and job placement departments and operated with its own funds, grants from the Joseon Governorate, and donations from Japanese residents in colonial Korea. If granting grants gave the Joseon governorate the opportunity to promote “emperor's grace,” donations allowed Japanese residents of Korea to show off their social status and mitigate the negative publicity generated by their commercial activities and accumulation of wealth. The Hwagwang Gyowon labor hostel was used by a wide range of Koreans. As the establishment of the women's lodging house demonstrates, the organization was quick to respond to the needs of Koreans, opening new areas of business. However, faced with the challenge of controlling Koreans who were unable to pay for lodging amid chronic unemployment and poverty, the organization eventually resorted to unilateral and violent measures against Koreans. Social relief that overcame the “discrimination between those who seek and those who are saved,” which was the original goal of Pure Land Buddhist social work, remained elusive in the poverty-ridden reality of colonial Korea.