Oomoto


Oomoto, also known as Oomoto-kyo, is a religion founded in the 1890s by Deguchi Nao and Deguchi Onisaburō. Oomoto is typically categorized as a Shinto-based Japanese new religion. The spiritual leaders of the movement have always been women within the Deguchi family, along with Onisaburō as its founding seishi. Since 2001, the movement has been guided by its fifth leader, Kurenai Deguchi.
Oomoto's administrative headquarters is in Kameoka, Kyoto, and its spiritual headquarters is in Ayabe, Kyoto. Uniquely among Japanese religions, Oomoto makes extensive use of the constructed language Esperanto to promote itself as a world religion. Oomoto has historically engaged in extensive interfaith dialogue with religions such as the Baháʼí Faith, Christianity, and Islam, since a key tenet of Oomoto is that all religions come from the same source.
Oomoto was brutally suppressed by the Japanese government in 1921 and again in 1935, since the government perceived it to be a threat to its authority. After World War II, Oomoto was fully legalized as a registered religious organization. Various other religions have also been founded by former followers of Oomoto, most notably Seicho-No-Ie and the Church of World Messianity.

History

In 1892, Deguchi Nao, a housewife from the town of Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture, declared that she had a "spirit dream" during the Japanese New Year. She became possessed by Ushitora no Konjin and started to transmit the kami's words. According to the official Oomoto biography of Deguchi, she came from a family which had long been in poverty, and had pawned nearly all of her possessions to feed her children and invalid husband. After 1895, and with a growing number of followers, Deguchi Nao briefly affiliated herself with the Konkōkyō religion until 1897, since she did not yet have government approval for her religious movement.
In 1898, Deguchi Nao met Ueda Kisaburō, who had previous studies in kamigakari. In 1899, they established the Kinmeikai together, which became the Kinmei Reigakkai later in the same year. In 1900, Kisaburō married Nao's fifth daughter Sumiko and adopted the name Deguchi Onisaburō. Oomoto was thus established based on Nao's automatic writings and Onisaburō's spiritual techniques.
Since 1908, the group has taken diverse names — Dai Nihon Shūseikai, Taihonkyō, and Kōdō Ōmoto . Later, the movement changed from Kōdō Ōmoto to just Ōmoto and formed the Shōwa Seinenkai in 1929 and the Shōwa Shinseikai in 1934.
, a teacher at Naval War 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. Much of its popularity derived from a method of inducing spirit possession called chinkon kishin, which was most widely practiced from 1916 to 1921. Following a police crackdown, Onisaburō banned chinkon kishin in 1923. Today, in present-day Oomoto, only the chinkon aspect is practiced as a form of meditation, but not the kishin aspect of spirit possession.
In March 1920, the Ōmoto-affiliated magazine Shinrei published an edition of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in Japanese for the first time.
Alarmed by the popularity of Oomoto, the Imperial Japanese government, which promoted kokutai, State Shinto, and reverence for the emperor, condemned the sect for worshipping Ookunitokotachi above Amaterasu, the sun goddess from whom the Emperor of Japan claimed descent. This led to two major incidents when Oomoto was persecuted under the lèse-majesté law, the, and the Public Security Preservation Law of 1925. In 1921, the first Oomoto Incident resulted in the Oomoto headquarters being destroyed, and Onisaburo and a few of his followers were imprisoned.
From 1925 until 1933, Oomoto maintained a mission in Paris. From there, missionaries travelled throughout Europe, spreading the word that Onisaburo Deguchi was a Messiah or Maitreya who would unify the world.
In 1924, retired naval captain Yutaro Yano and his associates within the Black Dragon Society invited Onisaburo to embark on a journey to Mongolia. Onisaburo led a group of Oomoto disciples, including Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba. They were captured by the forces of Chinese warlord Zhang Zuolin, but were released upon realizing they were Japanese nationals. After returning to Japan, Onisaburo established the secular organization Jinrui Aizenkai, also known as Universal Love and Brotherhood, to promote universal brotherhood and world peace. Religious organizations from around the world, including the Baháʼí Faith, Cao Dai, Red Swastika Society, and Universal White Brotherhood, joined this movement.
In 1935, the Second Oomoto Incident again left its headquarters in ruins and its leaders in prison. This incident was carried out far more intensively than the previous one in 1921, as the Japanese government sought to completely eradicate all traces of Oomoto shrines and materials. Oomoto was effectively outlawed until the end of World War II. With the Second Oomoto Incident, Oomoto became the first religious organization to be prosecuted under the Public Security Preservation Law of 1925.
After World War II, Oomoto reappeared as Aizen-en, a movement dedicated to achieve world peace which was led by Onisaburo Deguchi's eldest grandson Yasuaki Deguchi. It was registered in 1946 under the Religious Corporations Ordinance. Yasuaki Deguchi considered Onisaburo rather than Nao to be the main founder of the religion, and thus used Onisaburo's Reikai Monogatari as its main scripture.
In 1949, Oomoto joined the World Federalist Movement and the World Peace campaign. In 1952, the group returned to its older name, becoming the religious corporation Oomoto under the Religious Corporations Law. Since then, Oomoto has opened various international branches, including Oomoto do Brasil.

Spiritual leadership

Oomoto's spiritual leaders, all of whom belong to the Deguchi family, are:
  • Main Founder : Nao Deguchi ; also referred to as the Foundress
  • Co-Founder : Onisaburo Deguchi ; also referred to as the Holy Teacher
  • Second Spiritual Leader: Sumi Deguchi, Onisaburo's wife
  • Third Spiritual Leader: Naohi Deguchi, Onisaburo's eldest daughter
  • *Alternate Spiritual Leader: Hidemaru Deguchi , husband of Naohi Deguchi
  • Fourth Spiritual Leader: Kiyoko Deguchi, Naohi's third daughter
  • Fifth Spiritual Leader: Kurenai Deguchi, Kiyoko's niece, who has served as Fifth Spiritual Leader of Oomoto since 29 April 2001
Oomoto's spiritual headquarters, called Baishō-en, is in Ayabe, Kyoto, due to its association with Nao Deguchi's founding of the religion in Ayabe. However, its administrative headquarters, called Ten'on-kyō, is in Kameoka, Kyoto. Oomoto also has a mission center, called Tōkō-en, in Taitō, Tokyo.

Scriptures

The two main scriptures used in Oomoto are:
  • Oomoto Shin'yu, composed during 1892–1918
  • Reikai Monogatari, composed during 1921–1934
Of the two, the Reikai Monogatari is by far the most commonly consulted and used scripture in present-day Oomoto.
Next in importance are two scriptures composed by Onisaburo Deguchi during the first decade of the 20th century, namely Michi no Shiori and Michi no Hikari.
There are also various other less commonly used texts, such as Izunome Shin'yu, and the Three Mirrors or San Kagami by Onisaburo Deguchi, which consists of the Water Mirror, Moon Mirror, and Jade Mirror.

Sacred sites

Oomoto has numerous sacred sites, some of which are:
  • Kutsujima, and nearby Kanmurijima and Meshima, considered sacred to Ushitora no Konjin
  • Takakuma-yama in Anao, Kameoka, Kyoto; Onisaburo Deguchi performed spiritual training for one week in a cave on the mountain during March 1–7, 1898
  • Mount Hongū in Ayabe, located on the grounds of Baishō-en
  • Misen-zan in Ayabe, where Nao Deguchi secluded herself in 1901
  • Hachibuse-yama in Kami, Mikata District, Hyōgo, climbed by Onisaburo Deguchi just after World War II
  • Ashiwake-yama in the Yūbari Mountains in Hokkaido, where the kami Kuni-no-Tokotachi-no-Mikoto resides.
  • Miyabaru-yama, a mountain on Kikaijima in Kagoshima Prefecture, where the kami Toyokumonu-no-Mikoto resides.
  • The Kumayama ruins on Kumayama , a mountain in eastern Okayama

    Festivals

Four major festivals are held for each of the four seasons.
  • Setsubun Grand Festival, February 3, Ayabe
  • Spring Grand Festival, May 5, Ayabe
  • Summer Grand Festival, August 7, Kameoka
  • Autumn Grand Festival, or the Foundress' Festival, November 6, Ayabe

    Art

Oomoto and its adherents promote Japanese arts and culture, such as Noh theater, calligraphy, ceramics, and the tea ceremony. According to Onisaburo Deguchi, "Art is the mother of religion". This perspective was also shared by Oomoto follower Mokichi Okada, who founded both the Church of World Messianity and the MOA Museum of Art in Atami.

Use of Esperanto

The constructed language Esperanto plays a major role in the Oomoto religion. Starting from the early 1920s, the religion has published a large amount of literature in Esperanto. Onisaburo Deguchi reportedly introduced Esperanto back when he had interfaith dialogues with the Baháʼí Faith in 1921. Many Oomoto facilities in Kameoka, Kyoto have multilingual signs in Japanese and Esperanto. Today, Oomoto continues to publish numerous books, periodicals, pamphlets, and websites in Esperanto; some materials are actually more extensive in Esperanto than in English.
The creator of Esperanto, L. L. Zamenhof, is revered in Oomoto as a kami. The Oomoto affirmation of Zamenhof's enshrinement as a kami is stated, in Esperanto, as follows:

...a spirito de Zamenhof eĉ nun daŭre agadas kiel misiisto de la anĝela regno; do, lia spirito estis wikt:apoteozo

The text above as translated into English is:

...he spirit of Zamenhof even now continues to act as a missionary of the angelic kingdom; therefore, his spirit was deified in the Senrei-sha shrine.