Makoto no Michi


Makoto no Michi is a Shinto-based Japanese new religion. The headquarters of Makoto no Michi is located in Kasuya, Tokyo. Waterfall meditation, which is also a shugendo practice, is one of its main practices.
WWW makoto.or.jp

History

In 1948, the religion was founded as Chidori-kai. Hagiwara Makoto, who had returned from China after World War II, registered it as a religious organization in 1949 and became its leader. In 1952, the organization's name was changed to Makoto no Michi.
One of Hirohito's former aides claimed that Empress Nagako's lady-in-waiting Imaki Yoshiko was a follower of Makoto no Michi, and that the empress herself may have been influenced by the religion as she was looking for a way to alleviate Hirohito's illness during his later years.

Spiritual leaders

In order of succession, the spiritual leaders of Makoto no Michi are:
  1. Hagiwara Makoto : founder and leader from the religion's founding until his death in 1981
  2. Hagiwara Shinmei : son of Hagiwara Makoto and leader from February 1982 to May 2023
  3. Nagasawa Meishin : leader from May 2024 to present

Beliefs and practices

Divine revelations

Makoto no Michi practices the receiving of divine revelations, in which a spirit medium under divine possession works together with a spirit mediator known as a saniwa, along with various ritual assistants.

Geography

Makoto no Michi's sacred geography is derived from that of Oomoto founder Onisaburo Deguchi's Reikai Monogatari, in which Japan is viewed as a model or microcosm of the world. Hokkaido is viewed as the equivalent of North America, Honshu as Eurasia, Shikoku as Australia, Kyushu as Africa, and Taiwan as South America; these equivalences stem from their common mythical origins during the creation of the world. The geographic equivalents of the main Japanese islands and Taiwan with the world's continents are identical in both Oomoto and Makoto no Michi. For comparison, Oomoto's headquarters in Ayabe has a garden with islands that represent the same set of islands and continents.
For mountains and lakes, equivalents include:

Locations

Makoto no Michi's administrative headquarters is in Kasuya, Tokyo. The religion also has a waterfall meditation site at Nigitama-no-miya just north of Mount Takao. Makoto no Michi's "inner temple" is Naohi-no-miya, located in Nasu, Tochigi.

Books

Makoto no Michi has published about a dozen books, a few of which include:
  • Makoto no Michi shinji / 真の道神示
  • Makoto no Michi shinji: vol. 2 / 真の道神示 第二集
Other books include:
  • 真を求めて:萩原真自伝
  • 飛翔:萩原真先生を偲ぶ
  • 大峰老仙:わしはピヨピヨじゃったよ
  • 守護霊様と私（第二集）
  • 真手入門
  • 天源
  • 車に乗った巫女
Books in the Makoto no Michi o motomete series:
  1. 天命が見える
  2. 梶さんの霊界通信
  3. 人間の幸福