Oomoto
Encyclopedia
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
, often categorised as a new Japanese religion
Shinshukyo
is a Japanese term used to describe domestic new religious movements. They are also known as in Japanese, and are most often called simply Japanese new religions in English. Japanese theologians classify all religious organizations founded since the middle of the 19th century as Shinshūkyō. Thus,...
originated from Shinto
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
; it was founded in 1892 by Deguchi Nao (1836–1918). The spiritual leaders of the movement have predominantly been women; however, Deguchi Onisaburō
Onisaburo Deguchi
, born Ueda Kisaburō 上田 喜三郎 , is considered the second spiritual leader of the Oomoto religious movement in Japan.Onisaburo had studied Honda Chikaatsu's "Spirit Studies" , he also learned to mediate spirit possession from Honda's disciple Nagasawa Katsutate in Shizuoka...
(1871–1948) has been considered an important figure in Omoto as a seishi (spiritual teacher). Since 2001, the movement has been guided by its fifth leader, Kurenai Deguchi.
History
Deguchi Nao, a housewife from the tiny town of Ayabe in Kyoto PrefectureKyoto Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Kyoto.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Kyoto prefecture was known as Yamashiro....
, declared that she had a "spirit
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
" at the lunar New Year
Japanese New Year
The is one of the most important annual festivals, with its own unique customs, and has been celebrated for centuries. Due to the importance of the holiday and the preparations required, the preceding days are quite busy, particularly the day before, known as Ōmisoka.The Japanese New Year has been...
in 1892, becoming possessed (kamigakari) by Ushitora no Konjin
Konjin
is an itinerant kami from Onmyōdō...
and starting to transmit his words. According to the official Oomoto biography of Deguchi, she came from a family which had long been in poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, and had pawned nearly all of her possessions to feed her children and invalid husband. Deguchi was certainly not an otherwise famous figure and independent accounts of her do not exist. After 1895, and with a growing quantity of followers, she became a teacher of the Konkōkyō
Konkokyo
or just Konko, is a new religion of Japanese origin also regarded as a type of Sect Shinto. It is a syncretic, henotheistic and panentheistic religion, which worships God under the name of Tenchi Kane No Kami, the Golden God of Heaven and Earth. Tenchi Kane No Kami is also referred to as Kami, or...
religion. In 1898 she met Ueda Kisaburō who had previous studies in kamigakari (spirit possession) and in 1899 they established the Kinmeikai which became the Kinmei Reigakkai later in the same year. In 1900 Kisaburō married Nao’s fifth daughter Sumi and adopted the name Deguchi Onisaburō. Omoto was thus established based on Nao's automatic writing
Automatic writing
Automatic writing or psychography is writing which the writer states to be produced from a subconscious and/or spiritual source without conscious awareness of the content.-History:...
s (Ofudesaki
Ofudesaki (Oomoto)
The Ofudesaki is the original holy text of Oomoto, a Japanese new religion founded in 1892 by Deguchi Nao. Encompassing roughly 200,000 pages of Japanese paper, it is written entirely in uneven hiragana which even Oomoto followers regard as unskilled. It is claimed that Deguchi was illiterate and...
) and Onisaburō’s spiritual techniques.
Since 1908 the group has taken diverse names, Dai Nihon Shūseikai, Taihonkyō (1913) and Kōdō Ōmoto (1916). Later the movement changed from Kōdō Ōmoto ("great origin of the imperial way") to just Ōmoto ("great origin") and formed the Shōwa Seinenkai in 1929 and the Shōwa Shinseikai in 1934.
Asano Wasaburō, a teacher at Japan’s Naval College, attracted various intellectuals and high-ranking military officials to the movement in 1916. By 1920 the group had their own newspaper, the Taishō nichinichi shinbun, and started to expand overseas.
The first "Omoto incident" (Ōmoto jiken), in 1921, was a government
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
intervention followed in 1935 by the "Second Ōmoto Incident". The 1935 incident left its headquarters destroyed and its leaders in captivity. The promotion of kokutai
Kokutai
Kokutai is a politically loaded word in the Japanese language, translatable as "sovereign", "national identity; national essence; national character" or "national polity; body politic; national entity; basis for the Emperor's sovereignty; Japanese constitution". "Sovereign" is perhaps the most...
and the Imperial Way resulted in the sect being condemned for worshipping figures other than Amaterasu
Amaterasu
, or is apart of the Japanese myth cycle and also a major deity of the Shinto religion. She is the goddess of the sun, but also of the universe. the name Amaterasu derived from Amateru meaning "shining in heaven." The meaning of her whole name, Amaterasu-ōmikami, is "the great August kami who...
, which distracted from the figure of the emperor.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the organization reappeared as Aizen’en, a movement dedicated to achieve world peace
World peace
World Peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or people. World peace is an idea of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare. The term is sometimes used to...
, and with that purpose it was registered in 1946 under the Religious Corporations Ordinance.
In 1949 Ōmoto joined the World Federalist Movement
World Federalist Movement
The World Federalist Movement is a global citizens movement with member and associate organizations around the world. The WFM International Secretariat is based in New York City across from the United Nations headquarters...
and the world peace campaign. In 1952 the group returned to its older name, becoming the religious corporation Ōmoto under the Religious Corporations Law. At present time, the movement has its headquarters at Kyoto Prefecture
Kyoto Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Kyoto.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Kyoto prefecture was known as Yamashiro....
and has a nominal membership of approximately 170,000. There is a temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
for religious services in Ayabe, and a mission in a large park on the former site of Kameoka Castle that includes offices, schools, a publishing house, and shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
s in Kameoka.
International activities
Since the time of Onisaburo DeguchiOnisaburo Deguchi
, born Ueda Kisaburō 上田 喜三郎 , is considered the second spiritual leader of the Oomoto religious movement in Japan.Onisaburo had studied Honda Chikaatsu's "Spirit Studies" , he also learned to mediate spirit possession from Honda's disciple Nagasawa Katsutate in Shizuoka...
, the constructed language
Constructed language
A planned or constructed language—known colloquially as a conlang—is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary has been consciously devised by an individual or group, instead of having evolved naturally...
Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
has played a major role in the Oomoto religion. Starting in 1924, the religion has published books and magazines in Esperanto and this continues today. Almost all of the 45,000 active members of Oomoto have studied some Esperanto, and around 1,000 are fluent in the language.
From 1925 until 1933 Oomoto maintained a mission in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. From there, missionaries travelled throughout Europe, spreading the word that Onisaburo Deguchi was a Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
or Maitreya
Maitreya
Maitreya , Metteyya , or Jampa , is foretold as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he or she is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva.Maitreya is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on...
, who would unify the world.
For several years an Oomoto office and temple has been open in the capital of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Brasilia
Brasília
Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
. The local Esperanto speakers have assisted considerably.
Doctrine
Omotokyo, was strongly influenced by KonkokyoKonkokyo
or just Konko, is a new religion of Japanese origin also regarded as a type of Sect Shinto. It is a syncretic, henotheistic and panentheistic religion, which worships God under the name of Tenchi Kane No Kami, the Golden God of Heaven and Earth. Tenchi Kane No Kami is also referred to as Kami, or...
, Ko-shinto
Ko-shinto (Jomon-jin)
is the name given to the original Shinto tradition of the Jomon people still practiced today in some Ainu families and communities, as well as in some Ryukyuan areas.Ko-Shinto has much in common with Shinto...
(ancient Shinto) and folk spiritual and divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
traditions; it also integrated Kokugaku
Kokugaku
Kokugaku was a National revival, or, school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period...
(National Studies) teachings and modern ideas on world harmony and peace, creating a new doctrine. It shares with Konkokyo the belief in the benevolence of Konjin
Konjin
is an itinerant kami from Onmyōdō...
, who was previously considered an evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
kami
Kami
is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...
, and shares with other ancient Shinto schools the teachings that proclaim the achievement of personal virtue
Virtue
Virtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being....
as a step to universal harmony.
Members of Oomoto believe in several kami. The most important are Ookunitokotachi
Kunitokotachi
In Japanese mythology, is one of the two gods born from "something like a reed that arose from the soil" when the earth was chaotic. In the Nihon Shoki, he is named "Kuni-toko-tachi no mikoto" and is the first of the first three divinities born after heaven and earth were born out of chaos, and...
, Ushitora Konjin
Konjin
is an itinerant kami from Onmyōdō...
and Hitsujisaru. Oomoto members also tend to recognize notable religious figures from other religions, or even notable non-religious figures, as kami – for example, the creator of Esperanto, L. L. Zamenhof
L. L. Zamenhof
Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof December 15, 1859 – April 14, 1917) was the inventor of Esperanto, the most successful constructed language designed for international communication.-Cultural background:...
is revered as a god. However, all of these kami are believed to be aspects of a single God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
concept.
The belief that two kami, Kunitokodachi no Mikoto and Susano-o no Mikoto
Susanoo
, also known as is the Shinto god of the sea and storms. He is also considered to be ruler of Yomi.-Myths:In Japanese mythology, Susanoo, the powerful storm of Summer, is the brother of Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, and of Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon. All three were born from Izanagi, when...
, were the original founders and rulers of Japan, who were driven away by Amaterasu Ōmikami
Amaterasu
, or is apart of the Japanese myth cycle and also a major deity of the Shinto religion. She is the goddess of the sun, but also of the universe. the name Amaterasu derived from Amateru meaning "shining in heaven." The meaning of her whole name, Amaterasu-ōmikami, is "the great August kami who...
, the divine ancestor of the imperial line, is what placed this religion in opposition to the government in pre-war Japan.
Known followers
- One of the more well-known followers of Oomoto was Morihei UeshibaMorihei Ueshibawas a famous martial artist and founder of the Japanese martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" or , "Great Teacher".-Early years:Morihei Ueshiba was born in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan on December 14, 1883....
, the founder of AikidoAikidois a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...
, a Japanese martial art. It is commonly thought that Ueshiba's increasing attachment to pacifismPacifismPacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
in later years and belief that Aikido should be an "art of peace" were inspired by his involvement with the sect. Oomoto priests oversee a ceremony in Ueshiba's honor every April 29 at the Aiki Shrine at Iwama. - Yamantaka EyeYamantaka Eye, real name , born February 13, 1964 in Kobe, is a Japanese vocalist and visual artist, best known as a member of Boredoms. He has changed his name three times, from Yamatsuka Eye, to Yamantaka Eye, to Yamataka Eye, and sometimes calls himself eYe or EYヨ...
– visual artistArtistAn artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, DJ and member of avant musical group Boredoms - Mokichi OkadaMokichi OkadaMokichi Okada was the founder of the Church of World Messianity, in which he is known by the honorific title Meishū-sama...
, founder of the Church of World MessianityChurch of World MessianityThe Church of World Messianity , abbreviated COWM, is a "new religion" founded in 1935 by Mokichi Okada. The religion's key concept is Johrei, claimed to be a method of channeling divine light into the body of another for the purposes of healing...
(aka Shinju Shumeikai), was a follower of Oomoto prior to founding his own religion. - Masaharu TaniguchiMasaharu Taniguchiwas a Japanese New Thought leader, founder of Seicho-no-ie.He began studying English literature at the University of Waseda, Tokyo. In parallel, he also studied the works of Fenwicke Holmes, and subsequently translated Holmes' book, The Law of Mind in Action into Japanese...
, founder of the Seicho-no-ieSeicho-No-IeSeicho-no-Ie, sometimes rendered Seicho-no Iye , is a syncretic, nondenominational, monotheistic, New Thought religion, one of the Shinshūkyō in Japan that have spread since the end of World War II...
, was also a follower of Oomoto prior to founding his own religion.
Oomoto does not encourage people from outside Japan to join the religion, holding that it is too difficult for foreigners to understand traditional Japanese rituals.
Further reading
- Emily Groszos Ooms, Women and Millenarian Protest in Meiji Japan: Deguchi Nao and Omotokyo, Cornell Univ East Asia Program, 1993, ISBN 978-0939657612
- The Great Onisaburo Deguchi, by Kyotaro Deguchi, translated by Charles Rowe, ISBN 4-900586-54-4
- Iwao, Hino. The Outline of Oomoto. Kameoka, Japan, 1968.
- Murakami Shigeyoshi. Japanese Religion in the Modern Century. Translated by H. Byron Earhart. Tokyo, 1980. Originally published as Kindai hyakunen no shukyo. ISBN 978-0860082606
- Yasumaru Yoshio. Deguchi Nao Tokyo, 1977.
External links
- Bankyo Dokon – Seventy Years of Inter-Religious Activity at Oomoto, Oomoto Foundation, 1997
- Nao Deguchi – A Biography of the Foundress of Oomoto, Based on Kaiso-den by Sakae Ôishi, translated by Charles Rowe and Yasuko Matsudaira, Oomoto Foundation, 1982
- Nordenstorm, L. Ômotos mission på esperanto. En japansk ny religion i förändring från kiliastisk Maitreyaförväntan till religionsdialog. (The Ômoto-Mission in Esperanto. A Japanese new religion changing from chiliastic Ma-itreya-awaiting to religious dialogue.) Esperantoförlaget/Eldona Societo Esperanto. Stockholm, 2002. In Swedish with summaries in English and in Esperanto.
- Oomoto (Official site)
- Oomoto (at www.tryte.com.br)