Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō

Not to be confused with Jingu-kyo.
Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō
天照皇大神宮教
Sayo Kitamura, the religion's founder
ScriptureSeisho (生書) (4 volumes)
FounderSayo Kitamura
Origin1945
Tabuse

Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō (Japanese 天照皇大神宮教) is a Japanese new religious movement. The movement began activities in 1945, and reportedly includes 450,000 members.[1] It was established by Sayo Kitamura (北村 サヨ) (1900–1967), who was possessed by god under the name Tenshō-Kōtaijin.[2]

Its headquarters are in Tabuse (田布施町, Tabuse-chō), a town in Kumage District, Yamaguchi, Japan.[3]

History

Following the burning of her family barn by an arsonist in 1942, Kitamura was told by a healer to begin intense prayer and ascetic practices, taking cold baths and going to worship at a nearby shrine in the early morning, which continued for a few years.[4][5][6] In 1944, she became possessed by a spirit that later claimed to be Tenshō Kōtai Jingū. The deity gave her orders, and if she failed to obey, it caused her immense pain.[5] Later that year the deity claimed that it would use her to save the world.[5][7] Today, a tall concrete pillar marks the summit of Mount Ongaku (恩額山, Ongaku-zan) (33°57′10″N 132°00′48″E / 33.952640°N 132.013410°E / 33.952640; 132.013410),[8] the mountain where Kitamura received this divine revelation.

Kitamura started to speak more harshly and dressed in masculine clothes, claiming that it was more suitable for the way she now spoke.[5][4] She also became openly critical of other established religions and the Japanese government and even the emperor, predicting that the war would end badly for Japan. During the first few years after her possession, Kitamura held daily sermons at her own home, and her reputation began to spread in Tabuse.[9] After the war ended, and proved her prediction correct, people began devoting themselves to her teaching.[4] People claimed to be cured of their illnesses from hearing her sermons and practising her teaching, and people began to seek her out for healing.[9]

Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō began garnering attention from the press in April, 1946. When Kitamura was imprisoned and tried for refusing to comply with compulsory rice quotas in the area, a local newspaper began publishing articles about her trial. Throughout the course of her trial, Kitamura also drew the interest of the prosecutor, Watanabe Tomekichi, who visited her during her probation to listen to her sermons, and converted soon after the trial ended.[9] Watanabe later became an important figure for the religion.[6][9]

Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō registered under the Religious Corporations Ordinance on January 11, 1947.[9]

When Kitamura died in 1967, she was succeeded as head of Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō by her granddaughter Kiyokazu.[4]

Beliefs and practices

Kitamura preached abandoning one's attachments to the "maggot world," especially to traditional, established religions, which she believed to be idol worship.[9] Kitamura and her followers claimed that she was a messiah equal to Jesus Christ and Buddha.[5][7]

Followers practice a dance called muga no mai (無我の舞, "Dance of the non-self" or "Dance of the non-ego"), which is why the religion is often referred to as the "dancing religion" (踊る宗教, Odoru shūkyō).[1] They also chant Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō (名妙法連結経) (with the kanji differing that of the typical Buddhist version) as part of their daily practice.

The religion's scripture is the Seisho (生書), which is published in four volumes.[2]

See also

  • Anatta / Anātman (Japanese: muga)

References

  1. ^ a b "Glossary of Shinto Names and Terms: T". www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  2. ^ a b "Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō (Encyclopedia of Shinto)". 國學院大學デジタルミュージアム (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  3. ^ "天照皇大神宮教　本部道場". ロングライフビル推進協会 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  4. ^ a b c d Ambros, Barbara (2015). Women in Japanese religions. Women in religions. New York: New York university press. ISBN 978-1-4798-2762-6.
  5. ^ a b c d e Blacker, Carmen (1992). The Catalpa bow: a study of shamanistic practices in Japan (Mandala ed. repr ed.). London: Mandala. ISBN 978-0-04-398008-8.
  6. ^ a b Kerner, Karen. 1979. “Building God’s Kingdom: Society and Order in a Japanese Utopian Community.” Dissertation.
  7. ^ a b May, L. Carlyle (1954). "The Dancing Religion: A Japanese Messianic Sect". Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 10 (1): 119–137. ISSN 0038-4801.
  8. ^ "生き証人". Newshirogarasuのブログ (in Japanese). 2014-06-16. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Dorman, Benjamin (2012). Celebrity gods: new religions, media, and authority in occupied Japan. Nanzan library of Asian religion and culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-3621-4.

Further reading

  • The Prophet of Tabuse (1954), published by Tensho-Kotai-Jingu-Kyo, Tabuse, Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan.
  • Tina Hamrin: Dansreligionen i japansk immigrantmiljö på Hawai'i. Via helbrägdagörare och Jodu shinshu-präster till nationalistisk millennarism. (English summary: The Dancing Religion in a Japanese-Hawaiian Immigrant Environment). Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1996. (Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis. Stockholm Studies in Comparative Religion) - Review
  • NISHIYAMA Shigeru & FUJII Takeshi: The Propagation and Spread of Tenshô Kôtai Jingûkyô within Japanese-American Society on Hawaii Island at the Wayback Machine (archived 2014-04-21). 1991, 1997 Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University.
  • Clark B. Offner: The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Japanese Cultural Setting (PDF; 2,3 MB), S. 57ff.
  • Sayo Kitamura: Tensho Kotai Jingu-Kyo (1): The Dancing Religion, Contemporary Religions in Japan 2 (3), (1961), 26–42
  • L. Carlyle May: The Dancing Religion: A Japanese Messianic Sect, Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 10 (1), (1954), 119–137


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