← The Cult DossierThe Cult Dossier

← The Cult Dossier: all 182

The Cult Dossier · No. 040 · Syncretic / Other Nrm

Ōmoto and the Japanese New Religions

Ōmotokyō

1892 – present · Ayabe and Kameoka, Japan

IV. THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

Fully religious — Shinto-derived new religion

Who led it

NAO DEGUCHI (1837–1918), an illiterate rag-picker possessed in 1892 by the deity USHITORA NO KONJIN, who wrote out roughly 200,000 pages of automatic scripture (the Ofudesaki) while unable to read them; and her son-in-law ONISABURŌ DEGUCHI (1871–1948), a flamboyant organiser who claimed to be the messiah Miroku.

What it worshipped and taught

Ushitora no Konjin, a demoted deity returning to reconstruct and repair the world (tatekae tatenaoshi). Practices: chinkon kishin spirit possession and mediumship, faith healing, and an internationalist programme including support for Esperanto. Predicted the destruction of the existing order.

Who was in it

Nao Deguchi; Onisaburō Deguchi; Sumiko Deguchi; MORIHEI UESHIBA, founder of AIKIDO, a devoted Ōmoto member whose martial art was shaped by its theology; Mokichi Okada, founder of Sekai Kyūsei Kyō; Masaharu Taniguchi, founder of Seichō-no-Ie.

How it ended, or where it stands

SURVIVES AS A SMALL PEACEFUL RELIGION and remains enormously influential as a template for the Japanese new religions. About 170,000 nominal members, headquartered in Kyoto Prefecture. THIS ENTRY’S TIMELINE PREVIOUSLY STOPPED AT 1945, leaving eighty years blank for a movement still going.

The dead

—

Of note

TWICE CRUSHED BY THE JAPANESE STATE AND STILL HERE — and the second suppression ended in ACQUITTAL, after the buildings had already been dynamited and the sect made to pay for the demolition. NOTE WHO HAS LED IT. Founded by NAO DEGUCHI, an illiterate rag-picker, the spiritual leadership has passed down a line of women — Naohi, Kiyoko, and since 2001 Kurenai — across more than a century. In a dossier where succession usually means a male lieutenant seizing the apparatus, that is close to unique.

Its timeline

  1. 1892 Nao's initial possession at Ayabe.
  2. 1899 Onisaburō joins and marries Nao's daughter Sumi.
  3. 1921 FIRST ŌMOTO INCIDENT. Onisaburō arrested for lèse-majesté; the state dynamites Ōmoto buildings.
  4. 1924 Onisaburō's Mongolian adventure — he crosses into Mongolia claiming to be a reincarnation of Genghis Khan; nearly executed by Chinese forces.
  5. 8 December 1935 SECOND ŌMOTO INCIDENT. The most thorough religious suppression in modern Japanese history: roughly 3,000 arrests, the movement outlawed, and its headquarters at Ayabe and Kameoka systematically dynamited — the state even required the sect to pay for the demolition.
  6. 1945 Religious freedom restored under the Occupation; Ōmoto reconstituted.
  7. 1945 THE SECOND ŌMOTO INCIDENT ENDS IN COMPLETE ACQUITTAL in the Japanese courts — the state destroyed the sect’s buildings, and then lost the case.
  8. 1946 Restarts under a new name, AIZEN-EN, the Garden of Love and Virtue.
  9. 1952 Resumes the name ŌMOTO as a religious corporation under the Religious Corporations Law. NAOHI DEGUCHI, Onisaburō’s eldest daughter, becomes THIRD SPIRITUAL LEADER and rebuilds the movement.
  10. 1990 KIYOKO DEGUCHI, Naohi’s third daughter, becomes FOURTH SPIRITUAL LEADER.
  11. 2001–present KURENAI DEGUCHI leads as the FIFTH SPIRITUAL LEADER. Headquarters in Kyoto Prefecture; nominal membership around 170,000.

Its people

Onisaburō Deguchi

Ueda Kisaburō

Co-leader, Ōmoto · 12 August 1871 – 19 January 1948 · active 1899–1948

Married into Ōmoto and turned Nao Deguchi's austere peasant revelation into a flamboyant international movement. He claimed to be the messiah Miroku, promoted Esperanto, produced enormous quantities of art and calligraphy, and in 1924 crossed into Mongolia claiming to be a reincarnation of Genghis Khan — where he was nearly executed by Chinese forces. The Japanese state suppressed Ōmoto twice, the second time with extraordinary thoroughness: 3,000 arrests, the movement outlawed, and its headquarters dynamited, with the sect required to pay for its own demolition.

Before the law. Imprisoned twice for lèse-majesté and violation of the Peace Preservation Law. Convictions voided after the war.

Where things stand. Deceased 1948. Ōmoto survives as a small peaceful religion and is the template for most Japanese new religions.

  1. 1899 Joins Ōmoto; marries Nao's daughter Sumi.
  2. 1921 First Ōmoto Incident — arrested for lèse-majesté; buildings dynamited.
  3. 1924 The Mongolian expedition; nearly executed.
  4. 8 December 1935 Second Ōmoto Incident — ~3,000 arrests; movement outlawed and demolished.
  5. 1945 Released; religious freedom restored under the Occupation.
  6. 19 January 1948 Dies.

Checked

Nao Deguchi

—

Founder and original visionary, Ōmoto · 16 January 1837 – 6 November 1918 · active 1892–1918

An impoverished, illiterate widow working as a rag-picker who in 1892 was possessed by the deity Ushitora no Konjin and began writing. Over 26 years she produced roughly 200,000 pages of automatic scripture — the Ofudesaki — WHICH SHE COULD NOT READ. Her message was a furious denunciation of a corrupt world and a demand for its reconstruction. Her austere, prophetic strand and her son-in-law Onisaburō's flamboyant internationalism pulled against each other for decades, and Ōmoto's template — founder-shaman plus organiser — recurs across almost every Japanese new religion since.

Before the law. Confined as insane by her family in the early years of the possession.

Where things stand. Deceased 1918.

  1. 1892 First possession at Ayabe, aged 55.
  2. 1892–1918 Writes ~200,000 pages of scripture while illiterate.
  3. 1899 Onisaburō joins and marries her daughter Sumi.
  4. 6 November 1918 Dies aged 81.

Checked

The Atlas   The Door