 | This article'slead sectionmay be too short to adequatelysummarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead toprovide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(February 2025) |
| Oomoto | |
|---|---|
| 大本 (おおもと/おほもと) | |
 | |
| Type | Universal spiritual organization |
| Classification | Sectarian Shinto sect |
| Scripture | Oomoto Shin'yu (大本神諭),Reikai Monogatari (霊界物語) |
| Spiritual leader | Kurenai Deguchi (出口 紅) |
| Language | Japanese,Esperanto, English, Portuguese |
| Headquarters | Kameoka, Kyoto (administrative) Ayabe, Kyoto (spiritual) |
| Founder | Nao Deguchi andOnisaburo Deguchi |
| Origin | 1892 Ayabe, Kyoto |
| Separated from | Konkokyo |
| Separations | Seicho-no-Ie,Church of World Messianity,Ananaikyo |
| Other name(s) | Ōmoto-kyō |
| Official website | www |
| Slogan | Unu Dio, Unu Mondo, Unu Interlingvo[a] |
Oomoto (大本,Ōmoto,lit. "Great Source" or "Great Origin"),[1] also known asOomoto-kyo (大本教,Ōmoto-kyō), is a religion founded in the 1890s byDeguchi Nao (1836–1918) andDeguchi Onisaburō (1871–1948). Oomoto is often categorized as anew Japanese religion based onShinto. The spiritual leaders of the movement have always been women within the Deguchi family,[2] along with Onisaburō as its foundingseishi (spiritual teacher). Since 2001, the movement has been guided by its fifth leader, Kurenai Deguchi.
Deguchi Nao, a housewife from the tiny town ofAyabe, Kyoto Prefecture, declared that she had a "spirit dream" at theJapanese New Year in 1892, becoming possessed (kamigakari) byUshitora no Konjin (艮の金神)) 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, 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 number of followers, she became a teacher of theKonkōkyō religion.
In 1898, Deguchi Nao metUeda Kisaburō, who had previous studies inkamigakari (spirit possession). In 1899 they established theKinmeikai together, which became theKinmei Reigakkai later in the same year. In 1900, Kisaburō married Nao's fifth daughter Sumi and adopted the nameDeguchi Onisaburō. Oomoto was thus established based on Nao's automatic writings (Ofudesaki) and Onisaburō's spiritual techniques.[citation needed]
Since 1908, the group has taken diverse names —Dai Nihon Shūseikai (大日本修齋會),Taihonkyō (1913) andKōdō Ōmoto (皇道大本) (1916). Later the movement changed fromKōdō Ōmoto ("great origin of the imperial way") to just Ōmoto ("great origin") and formed theShōwa Seinenkai in 1929 and theShōwa Shinseikai (昭和神聖会) in 1934.
Asano Wasaburō, a teacher atNaval War College (海軍大学校,Kaigun Daigakkō), attracted various intellectuals and high-ranking military officials to the movement in 1916. By 1920 the group had their own newspaper, theTaishō nichinichi shinbun (大正日日新聞), and started to expand overseas. A great amount of its popularity derived from a method of inducing spirit possession calledchinkon kishin (鎮魂帰神), which was most widely practiced from 1919 to 1921. Following a police crackdown, Onisaburō bannedchinkon kishin in 1923.[3][need quotation to verify]
InMarch 1920, the Ōmoto-affiliated magazineShinrei published an edition ofThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion in Japanese for the first time.[4]
Alarmed by the popularity of Ōmoto, the Imperial Japanese Government, which promotedkokutai and the Imperial Way, condemned the sect for worshippingOokunitokotachi aboveAmaterasu, the Sun Goddess from whom theEmperor of Japan claimed descent.[5] This led to two major incidents when Ōmoto was persecuted under thelèse-majesté law, thelaw of censorship on newspaper [ja] and thePublic Security Preservation Law of 1925. In 1921, the first Ōmoto Incident (Ōmoto jiken) resulted in the Ōmoto headquarters being destroyed, as well as Onisaburo and two adherents being jailed. In 1924, retired naval captainYutaro Yano and his associates within theBlack Dragon Society invited Onisaburo on a journey toMongolia. Onisaburo led a group of Ōmoto disciples, includingAikido founderMorihei Ueshiba. They were captured by the forces of Chinese warlordZhang Zuolin, but were released upon realizing they were Japanese nationals. After he returned to Japan, he organized religious allies likeJinruiaizenkai to promote a universal brotherhood and world peace. Foreign religions from Korea, China, Russia, Germany and Bulgaria, including theRed Swastika Society, joined this movement. This was followed in 1935 by the second Ōmoto Incident, which again left its headquarters in ruins and its leaders in jail; Ōmoto was effectively outlawed until the end ofWorld War II. With the second Ōmoto Incident, Oomoto became the first religious organization who was prosecuted under thePublic Security Preservation Law of 1925.
After the war, the organization reappeared asAizen'en (愛善苑), a movement dedicated to achieve world peace, which was led by Onisaburo Deguchi's eldest grandson Yasuaki Deguchi (出口和明).[6][7] 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'sReikai Monogatari as its main scripture.[8]
In 1949 Ōmoto joined theWorld Federalist Movement and the world peace campaign.[citation needed] 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 and has a nominal membership of approximately 170,000.[9] There is a temple 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 shrines inKameoka. There are also international branches, such as Oomoto do Brasil (headquartered inJandira, São Paulo, Brazil).[10]
The two main scriptures used in Oomoto are:
Of the two, theReikai Monogatari is by far the most commonly consulted and used scripture in present-day Oomoto.
There are also various other less commonly used texts, such asIzunome Shin'yu (伊都能売神諭, 37 volumes, composed during 1918–1919) and theThree Mirrors orSan Kagami (三鏡, 844 chapters total) by Onisaburo Deguchi, which consists of theWater Mirror (水鏡, 249 chapters),Moon Mirror (月鏡, 212 chapters), andJade Mirror (玉鏡, 383 chapters).[11]
Oomoto's spiritual leaders, all of whom belong to the Deguchi (出口) family are:[12]
Oomoto's spiritual headquarters, called Baishō-en (梅松苑), is inAyabe, Kyoto, due to its association with Nao Deguchi's founding of the religion in Ayabe. However, its administrative headquarters, called Ten'on-kyō (天恩郷), is inKameoka, Kyoto.[13] Oomoto also has a mission center, called Tōkō-en (東光苑), inTaitō, Tokyo.
Oomoto has numerous sacred sites, some of which are:[14][15]
Four major festivals (大祭,taisai) are held for each of the four seasons.[21]
Since the time of Onisaburo Deguchi, the constructed languageEsperanto 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. Onisaburo Deguchi reportedly introduced Esperanto back when he had interfaith dialogues with theBaháʼí Faith in 1921.
Oomoto and its adherents promote the Japanese arts and culture, such asNoh theater and thetea ceremony. Oomoto is engaged in peace campaigns, aid work, and other similar activities.[23]
From 1925 until 1933, Oomoto maintained a mission in Paris. From there, missionaries travelled throughout Europe, spreading the word that Onisaburo Deguchi was aMessiah orMaitreya who would unify the world.
The Oomoto basic doctrine (大本教旨,Ōmoto kyōshi), also known as theshinjin itchi (神人一致), states that:[24]
God is the Spirit which pervades the entire universe,
and man is the focus of the workings of heaven and earth.
When God and man become one,
infinite power will become manifest.[25]
Original Japanese text of theŌmoto kyōshi:
The fundamental ways to reach God are the called the Three Great Rules of Learning (三大学則,sandai gakusoku):[22]
The Four Teachings (四大綱領,shidai kōryō) are:[22]
The Four Principles (四大主義,shidai shugi) are:[22]
Omotokyo was strongly influenced byKonkokyo,Ko-Shintō (ancient Shinto) and folk spiritual and divination traditions; it also integratedKokugaku (National Studies) teachings and modern ideas on world harmony and peace, creating a new doctrine. It shares with Konkokyo the belief in the benevolence ofKonjin, who was previously considered an evilkami, and shares with other ancient Shinto schools the teachings that proclaim the achievement of personal virtue as a step to universal harmony.
The fundamental narrative is thatUshitora no Konjin, by whom Deguchi Nao was possessed, is actuallyKuni-tokotachi-no-mikoto, who made the earth and was the original ruler of the world. Many years after Kunitokotachi no mikoto had made the earth and started to rule the world, other gods who learned to be bad made him retired, drove him away to the Northeast and started to call him the worst god. This is the reason why the world is full of evil, and Deguchi Nao's prophecy was the beginning of the second rule of Kunitokotachi no mikoto, therefore a change of the world would begin soon. Through her prophecies, Ushitora no konjin warned people to stopselfishness. They even thinkSetsubun ispersecution againstUshitora no Konjin.
Oomoto followers believe that one God created and fostered all things and lives in the universe. However, Oomoto considers individual kami to be the various manifestations of the one supreme God who created everything in the universe, calledOomoto-sume-oomikami (Japanese: 大天主太神 or おおもとすめおおみかみ).[28]Oomoto means the "Great Origin",sume means "govern", andOomikami means God. Any God but one God appears in order to realize the aim of God, therefore in Oomoto every God or thing is just another appearance of one God after all. At the same time God is energy, which is the principle of the universe, and the universal spirit everything has. And believers thinkAme-no-Minakanushi is the commonCreator God that all religions of the world share, including theAbrahamic religions. However, "Tales of the Spirit World" says the universe begins with the sudden advent of "ヽ", which is called "Hochi". He develops into "◉", which is called "su", iskotodama of su and is the great origin of god.
In Oomoto, humans are given a special role in the Universe. As the most spiritual beings in the Universe, humans are the masters of the Universe and the agents of god, and if a spirit of a human reaches god and they are united, infinity power will be generated according to the will of God.
Members of Oomoto believe in several kami. The most important areOokunitokotachi,Ushitora no Konjin andHitsujisaru. 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 is revered as a god. However, all of these kami are believed to be aspects of a single God concept.
The Oomoto affirmation of Zamenhof's godhood is stated, in Esperanto, as follows:
...[L]a spirito de Zamenhof eĉ nun daŭre agadas kiel misiisto de la anĝela regno; do, lia spirito estisapoteozita en la kapeleto Senrej-ŝa.[29]
Translated into English, the foregoing reads:
...[T]he spirit of Zamenhof even now continues to act as a missionary of the angelic kingdom; therefore, his spirit wasdeified in the Senrei-sha shrine.
The belief that two kami, Kunitokodachi no Mikoto andSusano-o no Mikoto, were the original founders and rulers of Japan, who were driven away by Amaterasu Ōmikami, the divine ancestor of the imperial line, is what placed this religion in opposition to the government in pre-war Japan. However,Amaterasu-oomikami is also considered to be a righteous god.
Followers of Oomoto believeHaya-susano-o no Mikoto, who had been originally told to rule the earth byIzanagi, was punished for all theAmatsutsumi instead of all gods and is a redeemer of the world, mainly based on the story ofAmano-Iwato andhis expulsion from Takaamahara.
Oomoto's goal is the realization of the world ofMiroku or Miroku no yo (みろくの世) ("the world to come"), which means heaven in the real world. It is expressed in various ways, such as "fromplum blossom topine" (梅で開いて松で治める,ume de aite matsu de osameru) (mentioned at the beginning of theOomoto Shin'yu), "purification of the world", "the opening ofAmano-Iwato of the world", "the world ofclear quartz", and so on.
Oomoto recognizes two realms, the physical world and the spiritual world (霊界,reikai), both of which are interconnected. In turn, the spiritual world consists of three parts:[22]
The founder emphasized the importance of the earth and respect for it. This even led to some of Onisaburo's ideas to be linked toagrarianism.
Their doctrine includes an idea that things that happen in Ayabe would happen in Japan or in the world. The oppression of them, consisting of the two Ōmoto incidents and consequent destruction of their facilities and organization, are considered to have been omens of World War II and consequent destruction of Japan.
Publications from the Oomoto Foundation:[31]
The group encourages the Japanese arts, such as Noh theater and the tea ceremony, and sponsors a volunteer organization that does aid work, campaigns for peace...
| People | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scriptures | ||
| Sacred sites | ||
| Deities | ||
