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Yamamoto Sumika: A new kind of living goddess in Japan
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Yamamoto Sumika: A new kind of living goddess in Japan
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YAMAMOTO SUMIKA - A NEW KIND OF LIVING GODDESS IN JAPAN
by
Snezana Bandic
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES)
May 2003
Copyright 2003 Snezana Bandic
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UMI Number: 1416534
Copyright 2003 by
Bandic, Snezana
All rights reserved.
®
UMI
UMI Microform 1416534
Copyright 2003 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company.
All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.
ProQuest Information and Learning Company
300 North Zeeb Road
P.O. Box 1346
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90089-1695
This thesis, written by
S/JC%AAJA _______________
under the direction o f h thesis committee, and
approved by all its members, has been presented to and
accepted by the Director o f Graduate and Professional
Programs, in partial fulfillment o f the requirements fo r the
degree o f
m s T B A Or Ff-ftTS,
Director
Date Mav 16 ■ 2 0 0 3
Thesis Committee
Chair
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DEDICATION
To Nevena, Slavko and Zvonimir
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank the members of my committee Dr. Peter Nosco, Dr. Gordon
M. Berger, and Dr. Edward Slingerland, for their time, support and invaluable
advice. Further, I am grateful to my parents, Slavko and Nevena Jeftic, for their
encouragement and for passing on to me a love of learning. Most of all, I would like
to thank my husband, Zvonimir Bandic, without whom this thesis would not have
been possible.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication...................................................................................................................ii
Acknowledgements....................................................................................................iii
Abstract.......................................................................................................................v
PART 1
Translation of Yamamoto Sumika’s “Goshintaku Messeji” (“Message from
the oracle”)................................................................................................................... 1
PART 2
Introduction................................................................................................................51
Theoretical Background.............................................................................................57
The Legacy of Female Leadership in the Japanese New Religions.......................... 59
Yamamoto’s Life Story - from a successful..............................................................62
Yamamoto’s Thought.................................................................................................67
The pursuit of happiness.................................................................................69
Individualism and self-cultivation................................................................. 74
Yamamoto as the social critic/commentator.................................................. 79
Summary and Conclusions.........................................................................................87
Bibliography...............................................................................................................90
iv
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ABSTRACT
This thesis examines the life and thought of Yamamoto Sumika, the founder of
Shinzankai, a Japanese new-new religion that originated from and is closely related
to the contemporary popular culture. Coming from a secular background, manga
creator Yamamoto legitimized herself as a spiritual leader and established her group
as a religion in a largely conservative society by claiming to have been contacted by
Shinto gods and by adopting a number of rites from Shinto. However, while
Shinzankai practices are mostly traditional, Yamamoto’s thought is syncretic - a
fusion of Shinto, Buddhism, Japanese new and new-new religions as well as Western
enlightenment thought, pasted in an original way, and coated in a language her
followers can understand. Three elements specifically show the influence of Western
enlightenment on Yamamoto’s thought: 1) the shaman’s rejection of institutionalism,
2) her call for individualism and 3) her gender awareness.
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PARTI
TRANSLATION
Mu, No. 56,07/1985
The message from the oracle
The mind that receives the gift from gods
How is everyone?
I am glad that you liked the poster of the Dragon God (the Great Gracious
Suwa) we printed in May issue. We received many stories encountering your
experiences with it. One read: “I was praying hard and a difficult negotiation went
quite smoothly.” Another read: “It saved me from a dangerous accident.” The third
said: “Although this is a very painful period in my life, every morning, when I pray I
feel my strength springing up, and everyday I carry posters from two issues of Mu I
had bought.” Everyone, continue to take the power from the posters!
I know that if you consider yourself a Buddhist, or a Christian, it seems hard
to worship Shinto deities. However, according to a reader in this issue, both gods and
religions were originally a single entity. Can you agree with that? If you can’t, and if
I receive many letters from you asking for posters of Christ, Buddha and other
deities, I will print them out as well. Please write to the editorial department!
Now, here is this month’s oracle you’ve been waiting for so impatiently! Are
you ready? It entails “a secret of fulfilling your mind”
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===== Can you regard random moments in your life as the occasions when
you received gifts from the gods? =====
These are keen words, don’t you all think so! If you are capable of practicing
these words, you will control your mind with your own strength, and will be able to
feel satisfied. On a given occasion, that is, each time in a given environment or
circumstances, “Can you think of that specific occasion as of the time when you
received gifts from the gods?”
Those of you who are not comfortable with the word (or expression) “God”
can think of it as the laws of universe, or laws of nature. At any rate, all things
happen for you - even gods, universe and nature. They all love you, and thus they
manipulate events and environment around you so that you can grow and be happy.
So, the only question is whether you can think of everything that happens in your life
as of the precious gifts from gods. Sometimes this is very hard to accept - for
instance, during sad or painful times, or the times of failure and breakdown, or when
one has been insulted or humiliated, or when the person himself or a loved-one is
stricken by an incurable or unusual disease. Can anyone feel grateful to gods for
putting us into situations like those (even if it is out of love for us?)
But this is how it is. People who feel hateful or bitter in difficult situations or
those who give in to fate are really unfortunate. On the other hand, the ones who are
capable of winning over their negative feelings, and those capable of being grateful
for their feelings, will always be happy and fulfilled, and will never feel that their
lives are worthless. In all truth, wouldn’t you say that real courage and real passion
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develop from the latter mind-set? What do you think? Again, please send your
questions to Mu editors.
The advice comer
My parents are pressing me to change jobs and return home
I am writing to get an oracle on a personal matter. I am a man bom on
September 19, 1957. At the present time, I am working for an office-appliances and
devices company in Tokyo. From about last summer I have been worrying over a
disagreement I had with my parents. Next year my father will retire and since I am
an only child, every time I return home, my parents express their hope that I would
look for a job in my hometown. I myself don’t find my present job the most
satisfying either and at this time, considering my age, a change of job seems like a
good opportunity. On the other hand however, in case I move to a new workplace,
since it will be in a small provincial town, I believe that the interpersonal relations
might be a problem. So, I am disheartened and can’t make a decision.
(Tokyo, Nogami Masaru, age 27)
The oracle
This advisee will welcome a major change of work in three years. According
to gods, in three years you will carry out an important project. So, before this change
occurs, it will be good to make various preparations for it. The most important will
be to train your spirit. You like exciting things, and your satisfaction with a job
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depends on how exciting it is. At the same time, however, a job can also wear your
spirit out. Weakness of spirit in turn can destroy your happiness. The instruments in
the fight against this will be your own effort and help from your wife. Don’t worry
too much and apply yourself for three years, and you will return to your hometown
feeling like a winner. Even though it is the countryside, if you search carefully
enough you will find a job there you can devote yourself to. It would be good if you
didn’t think only about your job though. It would be good if over these next three
years you tried to exert the talent you have as much as you can.
I don’t know what to believe or what to do
Why on earth are human beings bom? I think that people are bom to be able
to reach true happiness. But, here and there you can hear people whispering things
such as: “the end of the world is coining soon,” and if Nostradamus’s prophecy
proves right, humans have less than thirteen years left. I honestly feel that “the only
thing left is to pray to the gods.” But then again, all these gods are jumbled up in
various religions such as Shinto, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam, and beyond
religions in their different branches competing with one another. I think that
originally, religions and gods were one thing, but the more I think as to what to
believe and what to do, the more serious is my doubt. Please tell me what my
mission is.
(Nagasaki, Kojima Hitori, age 22)
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The oracle
There are various roads to the top of the mountain. Sometimes the path
entails art, other times philosophy, scholarship, adventure, affection, love, struggle,
suffering, testing and sacrifice, and all the above are included in the everyday life.
Listen now! In daily life, that is, on the way to the top of the mountain, one should
always be concerned with only one point.
Intention or right-mindedness. What is in one’s heart? What does each person
love, hope for or aim at day by day? Indeed, everyone should always be concerned
with only this issue. If your thoughts wonder around, since ever-growing doubts will
only give you more doubts, don’t continue doubting endlessly - instead cut those
doubts off completely. The truth is simple. Pay attention to your purpose, be always
nice and positive, be filled with love, and rectify your mind. This enlightened state of
mind is “the top of the mountain,” and love and art are two of the many ways to
rectify your mind.
Matters beyond this, such as the longevity of one’s life, having or not having
money, or the beginning and the end of the world do not matter.
Try devoting yourself to becoming right-minded. All the other questions will
disappear. Lastly, in the sense of your mission, this advisee’s mission is to stay on
the path of literary arts and seek there the truth of the wide world.
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Mu, No 57,08/1985
We are indebted to all of you for making the oracle comer such a success.
Thank you very much for sending your comments. Unfortunately, we simply can’t
print all your letters in the magazine.
You’ve been corresponding with Yamamoto Sumika, the creator of
Shinzankai, and we’ve included the address you can write to. Since the
correspondence takes a number of days, please inquire about the details.
The message from the oracle
One’s life is an adventurous journey in search for treasure
We received tons and tons of letters! In the midst of such a great response, let
me greet you for the third time! All of you Mu readers - how are you? Stay in high
spirits! Do you remember the first assignment you received from the gods? I am sure
you did! Everybody - what do you think human life is about?
That was indeed a fundamental question. Your response to this question was
again huge, and while your comments ranged from dark, to lighthearted, to
interesting they could be roughly classified into two groups. The first group,
represented by Mr. K. of Kamakura, considers “one’s life a journey” while the
second faction, represented by Mr. S. of Niigata, thinks that “people are actors
performing the roles of their lives on a stage.” I myself can’t help being excited by
this question. Let us then hear the gods’ answer!
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===== One’s life is an adventurous journey in search for treasure. An
absolute condition for succeeding on this adventurous journey is to turn your
environment into a weapon. The way to fail, on the other hand, would be to let your
environment become your burden. So, everybody, can you think of your
environment as of your weapon or do you only consider it your burden? Those of
you who, after thinking it over carefully, still think of it as a burden should think
again. =====
Everyone - what is your opinion on this matter? I am still thinking about it.
How does one turn his environment into a weapon? To illustrate, let us make an
example of something that should clearly be considered a handicap. In this world,
there are people who will use any handicap to reach a sensational success, but there
are also those who will take it as a reason to become miserable losers. So, is poverty
always to be considered an unfortunate situation? Does everyone, without exception
have to experience unhappiness? Wouldn’t it be nice if we erased from the world
experiences such as that of illness or humiliation? On the other hand - would life
really be good without some kind of torment, incident or trouble? Would the absence
of misery really make everybody happy?
All of us have troubles and all of us think of ourselves as disadvantaged in
one way or another. But what if you used the circumstances you thought of as your
burdens to think of them as if they were really your supreme weapons?
Thinking about one’s disadvantages as of one’s burdens is a mistake. In fact,
what if they were absolutely essential weapons on one’s journey in search for
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treasure? To think of one’s troubles as of burdens would be worse than throwing
away a check for ten billion yen, saying “it is just trash.” It would also be worse than
kicking away a hundred billion yen worth of artwork, saying, “I hate looking at this
junk.”
So everyone - let us quickly search our surroundings? Most people seem to
overlook far more valuable things than a billion yen check or a hundred billion yen
worth artwork. In fact, without disadvantageous circumstances, our journey in search
of treasure would not go well. So let’s search! The secret of searching seems to be in
the things that you think you hate. Everyone who searches and finds a treasure -
please write to us! The ones who search but can’t find it - please write to the gods
regardless of this unsuccessful attempt. You too will be able to reach the discovery
some day! I will be waiting - until the next month!
The advice comer
I am worrying about the future of my younger brother who is ill and refuses to
go to school
I am writing to get an advice regarding my little brother. He is shy and gentle
and my mother spoiled him. (I get the feeling that it could be what they call the
“mother complex”). Three years ago, my brother started middle school and it was
only June when he suddenly refused to go to school. In the beginning, thinking
nothing of it, when it was time for school and my brother complained of stomach
pain, we let him stay at home. However, by the time we thought that his illness lasted
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suspiciously long, it was already too late. He shut himself up in his room and we
couldn’t help him.
Later in the hospital, they were unable to find the cause of it either, so we
looked for help in the children’s welfare center. Since this was also ineffective we
went to the spiritualist (who claimed to be able to identify a curse put on a person by
aborted fetuses.) At the end - all the places we went to proved to be useless. As it is
now, my brother suffers inside our house unable to feel the joy of life or live as a
member of society. Please help us!
(Hokkaido, Yamamoto Keiko, age 19)
The oracle
It is nothing like a curse by aborted fetuses. The first cause of your brother’s
problem lies in his early childhood environment, i.e. in your mother’s child raring
mistakes. Since both the meals and spiritual upbringing your brother received were
unbalanced, he unfortunately turned into a disturbed person. By nature, your brother
has characteristics of both anxious and relaxed personality, so it is harder for him
than for other people to keep in balance. The second cause is to be found in the
trivial incidents that are part of everyone’s school-life. People like your brother can’t
stand feelings of defeat or humiliation that often result from these incidents.
If you leave the situation as is, your brother will feel more and more cornered
and will show violence during an intervention. So, you must show him that you are
open-minded and that the whole family supports him. In this sense, your father’s
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help is essential. The whole family needs to tell your brother how much you love
him and how important he is to you. When family members put their strength
together there is nothing to be afraid of.
My dear, no matter what other people say - don’t let them control your life!
Don’t give in to the people who laugh at you! Your whole family supports you! Even
if it takes a year or two for things to get better - don’t give in!
Tell this to your brother! Also, you have to understand the mind of an
adolescent, and you need to be careful with his food and exercise in order for him to
get a healthy and strong body. If he is capable of getting over this crisis - your
brother will grow up to become a successful man.
I have been haunted by spirits and I lost my faith in life
Dear Gods and teacher Sumika, I am terribly concerned about a problem. I
am prone to demon possession. I say possession, but what I mean is that spirits
pursue me, enter my body and stay there for a while (usually a day to three days.)
This has happened often enough to make me sick. Once, the spirits were clearly
visible and sure enough they came in a group. I used to carry an amulet but it was
totally ineffective. Beside this, lately, I suddenly can’t get along with my friends. So,
I am getting sick of it all, and the only thing I think about is that I want to die soon.
However, since I can’t commit suicide, right now I am looking for guidance on how
to continue living. What should I do from now on? Please tell me!
(Chiba, Okura Yumi, age 23)
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The oracle
It is easy to get rid of the troubling situation as in the case of this reader.
First, you need to make the salt ready. Don’t use salt from a bag or a box with a
broken seal, or that which was left from cooking in the past. For this occasion, set
out newly prepared salt in a mountain shape on a cleansed plate, and place it on a
family altar. (Make sure the salt wasn’t defiled by human breath.) If you don’t have
an altar, put it in a position higher that your eye level facing east or south.
For twenty-one days pray to the gods and afterwards boil a cup of water, add
a teaspoon of the prepared salt, and drink it. Be sure to repeat this every day during
the twenty-one day period. Even if demons leave you in the middle of the period -
don’t stop your routine. After this, if demons return within the next six months or
you can’t get rid of them at all this way, there are many other methods you can try.
So - if you want to improve your special abilities please ask again!
Mu, No. 58, (07/1985)
Message from the oracle
This month’s oracle will be in an unusual form. At last we will receive power
from the gods, and will be given instructions on how to fully use our talents. This
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month’s issue will serve as a preparation period. Now, we’ll see what next month’s
instructions will bring!
Develop your talent
How is everyone? When it is hot outside, it is hard to be diligent, cheerful or
affectionate. But the following can help: take a saying that strikes your heart and post
it in front of your desk or on the ceiling (so that you see it first thing in the morning.)
You can also write it down on a small piece of paper and place it in a notebook or in
your train-pass holder. Then read it a number of times every day. Gods have told us
that this method is “a supreme secret to successful life” and so, you should try it!
Now, today’s oracle will be odd in a way. Its form will differ from that of the
previous oracles. The reason for this is that messages with a fixed pattern would
make the gods look one-sided. And they are not one-sided, you know. Gods are not
kind men who give life advice, or teachers who constantly preach, or noisy women.
Even thought this seems natural, people still mistaken gods’ image, mishear their
words and misinterpret their love. This is the root of misfortune in the world. So
since there are so many different gods with extraordinary existence, let’s hold our
breath and submit ourselves to watching over as they present themselves on this
page!
======At present, a lot of Japanese people have forgotten to “develop their
talent.” ======
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This is the first and the most important oracle for this month. The point is that
today, a lot of Japanese are losing a sense of themselves.
No one is bom into this world without a purpose and therefore, there could be
no one who is completely incapable and without a talent. Do you remember last
month’s oracle which said that “life is an adventurous journey in search for
treasure?” There isn’t anything like a “search for treasure without a treasure”? This
was given to us last time.
====== When a beloved child is in question, parents tend to provide them
with enough money for important matters like education. In the same sense, would
gods send our souls into this world without giving us a key to our happiness?
This was also an oracle. Further:
====== Everyone is talented. This is because gods provide all souls with a
talent before they send them out into this world. ======
This oracle sounds extremely powerful. Whenever I hear this message what I
think about is “you can’t regret something before it happens.” Unfortunately,
although people are given many opportunities to notice “a talent from the heavens,”
it is sad that most of the times they seem to go through life without noticing it. This
is more disappointing than to see someone who has food set in front of him, but does
not notice it and dies of hunger. It is only after he died that he noticed the food. Not
noticing your talent is the same thing. A person leads a tedious life. Then, this life
comes to an end, and the death (that is the after-life) begins. (Having died the person
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loses his body and having entered the spirit world he sees his whole life as though
looking at a huge mirror) Only then does he realize how foolish he was. The terror
one feels at this point is beyond words or description. Overwhelmed by shame and
self-criticism the person thinks that he will go to hell and there is no way around it.
Isn’t this frightening?
One of the recently published books in psychiatry deals with the same
problem. It says - “the fact that people become unhappy is a very unfortunate
phenomenon.” It is a mystery why many people who have talents don’t recognize
them. Unfortunately, while many people could be happy and are supposed to develop
their spirit successfully - there is a lot of poor souls who fail to do so and die
unfulfilled. Many children don’t benefit from their abilities, and it is tragic that they
receive education which often hides or destroys their talents. In the present times,
when calories and vitamins are utterly important, the curriculum aimed at uncovering
and developing one’s talent is being distorted. Thus, compared to people of ancient
times, present-day man became incapable of seeing the gods.
Why is this? Talent is literally the wisdom and power given to us by the
heavens. As such, it represents the golden key of our happiness and above this a
strong tie bonding humans and gods. In the same sense, people who are regarded
geniuses (or the ones capable of making use of the talent bestowed upon them by the
heavens) often see “the gods” and talk to “the gods.”
Another thing. What the people who are said to have talents have in common
is that they are all tough - so, even when they get unlucky they think nothing of it. In
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other words, when they get disheartened or hurt, they don’t lose time feeling sorry
for themselves. On the contrary, they soon take the power from the gods and restore
their talents. While it might sound strange, this situation is the same as when you run
out of gas and your car stops! All you need to do is add fuel. No matter how efficient
or how great a car is, it cannot run without gasoline. Similarly, no matter how much
potential talent a person received from the heavens, when you cut off the gods’
power, you can’t go on.
So, what does one do to realize the power given by the gods’? Can you take
as much as you want of it? This question will be the object of the next oracle. For
now, carefully read messages we received so far and prepare yourselves well so that
you can understand this next oracle!
Lastly, your response to the last month’s oracle was enormous; (we also
received a lot of questions via telephone.) You were mostly interested in the method
of spirit purification. So, let me give you the recipe. We first need salt. In addition,
we need a small plate and a small spoon - both purified by washing. With the spoon,
take as much salt as you would use in twenty-one days, and place it in a mountain
shape on a plate. (Make sure that it wasn’t defiled by human breath.) Further, leave
this on the family altar or on a place facing east or south and higher than your eye-
level. Then every day, if possible at the fixed time, (for instance right after you get
up) pray to the gods from your heart, and add a spoonful of the salt to a glass of
water and drink it. Repeat this regularly for twenty-one days.
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That is how you do it. The phones in Shinzankai (home-base of my activities)
rang off the hook for a long time. The most common questions you posed were:
“Does this method work with this kind of spirits’ or “Does it work with that kind?”
Again, it seems that many people are troubled by spirits. At any rate, let’s practice
purification! Send your experience to the editorial department! We have already
gathered a box full of your letters expressing hope for a solution of various
problems! So I think that we will have another oracle next time! Until then -
everybody, take care of yourselves!
Mu, No. 59,10/1985
The message from the oracle
It is said: “Everybody is a genius.” However, whether a person can show that
original talent or not depends on how much power he receives from the gods. So,
even if it’s just a little, it is normal to want power. This is where month’s oracle
finally starts.
This month, we’ll give you a recipe for how to “seize power from the gods.”
Be aware of the gods and seize the power
Everyone, as this column became serialized and is coming out for the fifth
time, we will be rushing into more and more serious subject matter! Last time I
suggested that “a person being cut off from gods’ power is the same as a car without
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a gasoline - in short, you can’t function.” Then the question was - how can one
receive as much power from the gods as one wants?
Now - the curtain will literally rise and we will uncover the answer to this
question.
====== Be aware of the gods three times a day. ======
This is the first oracle! And right away we receive a simple explanation!
The message says “three times a day” which makes it once in the morning,
noon and evening. But it is really the time when you wake up, (which could be noon
or evening for the people who somewhat turned their days upside down,) then
midday, after you have finished your work halfway (usually before you would have
lunch) and lastly, before you go to sleep.
How does this sound?
When you wake up you are the most refreshed and sensitive to “the sacred
passage.” However short your nap was, physical activity stops and your senses are
released from this world. In case of people who sleep soundly, soon after they fall
asleep, their spirits leave their physical body and they experience an astral trip. There
are infinite possibilities as to where they can travel in this way - from their past
lives, to a space other than the one they live in now, to the future.
This astral trip is a wonderful thing. For people who have the power it
represents a way to help others, while for the ones who don’t have the power, the trip
can be the way to reach it.
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To put it simply - when a person falls asleep his spiritual body breaks away.
Some spirits go to the sites of accidents, helping people who have the potential to be
saved and leading confused souls of the dead to the spirit world. These are the
actions of advanced spirits - or the ones who have the power.
However, even if spirits are advanced, they can mn out of their power and get
tired. In those cases they tend to return to their past lives. They go back to the times
when they were really happy and thrilled to have shown their real ability. Returning
to that space brings them satisfaction, excitement and happiness. It enables them to
return to this world high-spirited, rejuvenated and with their power restored.
Sleep is indeed a wonderful system even for the people whose spirits have
trouble breaking away. Since their judgment is limited to the values of this world,
sleep provides some time for their spirits to open up. In other words, it enables them
to enter a different dimension - a different world. So, even if you don’t make a big
astral trip to the past when you are asleep, but only dream of things from yesterday
or today, or you have a nightmare, your dreams have various meanings and sleep is
extremely important for you too.
Because of all this, “being conscious of the gods after we have just waken
up” has an effect on us that goes beyond our imagination. It amplifies good sleep and
purifies bad sleep. Moreover, this ritual of reminding ourselves to be aware of the
gods, is what enables us to receive necessary power directly from the gods!
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Love is action
The second time when you need to “be aware of the gods” is in the middle of
your daily routine - whether it entails studying or work. You will examine and think
over the first part of your activity, then figure out a plan for the second half, and as
you are about to have a meal, you will receive the power from the gods. I can’t
emphasize enough as to how important this is.
Then there is the third time to “be aware.” At the end of the day, just before
we move from the three-dimensional world to a different dimension, you should pray
to the gods, be conscious of them, and surrender yourself to their energy! Again, I
can’t tell you how important this act is.
Of course the big question is how to become “conscious.” Methods such as
praying and meditation are good but people have been asking - whom should I
worship? Is it all right if I become aware of a god I believe in? Can it be Christ,
Buddha, Fudo Myoo (Acala)1 or Amaterasu Omikami? The answer is yes - whatever
your religion is and whoever your god is - there are no heretical denominations or
gods - they are all the same. All religions originate and will return to the basic one.
The ones who talk nonsense such as that “according to this religion and this
god people cannot not be saved” will soon die and go to hell where they will shed the
tears of regret.
1 Fudo Myoo (“the immobile one”) is for the Japanese Buddhist a form o f Dainichi. “It is said that he
was incarnated as a slave in order to serve al beings and that he took a vow to destroy all evil in the
world. He is one of the few frightening looking members of the Buddhist circle. In his right hand he
hold a sword to smite the wicked, and in his left a lasso to catch and bind them. Behind him rises a
mass of red flames.” Japanese -English Buddhist Dictionary, Tokyo: Daito Shuppansha, 1965, p. 59.
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It is irrelevant as to which god you are praying to and which religion you
belong to. What people should aim at is to understand their gods well and to take
faith seriously. Again, it is not a sin and you should not have a guilty conscience if at
any point you feel necessary to change your religion or the god you pray to. Even
Kobo Daishi changed the god he worshiped in his youth. There should be no regrets.
(But be careful! Since naturally one can’t expect his prayers to be answered if he
prays just a little, wondering from doctrine to doctrine is out of the question.)
So, finally - let’s do it! As Mother Theresa once said “love, ease and action!”
Love and prayer go together with action. And vice versa - if there is no action - the
rest becomes meaningless and ineffective. Everybody - lets do it!
Turn your heart to the highest existence and practice your faith! Being aware
of gods is easy in the morning and in the evening - but it seems to be harder to
remember to do it in the middle of the day when you are engaged in your work or
studies. However, since human beings are strong - try to include it in your daily
routine.
At last - here is the second divine message.
====== Stop idling away! Let your superfluous flesh surrender to your
spirit! ======
Well - until the next month! Next time we will receive another important
gods’ message!
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Mu, No. 60, 11/1985
The Message from the Oracle
The key to one’s happiness, the recipe for one’s happiness...
How is everybody? Lets stay in high spirits! First, here is this month’s
message!
====== There are three secrets to the life-success. The first secret is to
always feel grateful. ======
While this seems like a generalized statement, let us reconsider what
gratitude means. I will use my own experience since it makes for a good example.
(Actually, I hid these things all throughout my life and this how I wanted to keep it,
but the gods wanted me to tell the story and so I can’t disobey them.)
This story of mine is at the same time bright and dark and weird. The key-
point of the story is that, if one is never grateful, he will feel as if his life is a living
hell even when his situation seems favorable.
My childhood and my youth were a picture of living hell. I was always sick.
My body was weak and I suffered from various allergies. Whenever I ate something
(or did not eat something) I would get a rash. Because of all this I had to miss my
elementary school entrance ceremony and my picture was added to the class photo as
a cut-and-paste. As a second and third grader I truly contemplated a suicide. Later,
during my middle school years, I often got severe headaches, and dizzy spells were a
part of my daily routine. I also suffered from terrible insomnia and was obsessed
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with cleanliness. Anemia caused me to black out whenever I did something physical
like dancing.
To make the matters worse, my whole family consists of a bunch of over
achievers. My father, a son of a prominent public personality, is handsome and has
got a nickname “the king of the business world.” My mother, is very intelligent and
has literary talent. The story goes that she disappointed numerous admirers when she
fell in love with my father. Finally, my younger brother has a gift for art, math and
science. So, as the only ordinary person in the family - I became tortured with the
inferiority complex at an early age. I still remember being constantly overwhelmed
by the feeling of inadequacy which together with everything else made me really
unhappy.
Later, when I entered high school, I became a vice-chairperson of the
students’ congress. I was an excellent student in the art college, and I successfully
started a career as a comic-book creator. However, despite all this I was still really
unhappy. Even though I was well liked since my childhood, was adored by my
teachers, and had no problems with friends, because of my weak body and my
inferiority complex towards my family - 1 felt like I was in hell.
As a young woman, I came into possession of numerous valuable things; I
had a perfect diamond, an exquisite pearl necklace and other objects as seen on TV
and in films. I was proposed for marriage many times since the age of seventeen. I
was often served my favorite dish of smoked salmon on a big plate. Since I had high
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IQ I was told it was natural to have it all. However, despite all of the above I was
foolish and led truly miserable life.
Gods helped me to turn my life around. It is ironic how happy I am today. It
happened despite losing all of the things I once had. There are no rings, necklaces,
mink furs, dresses, and luxurious rugs in my life any more. There is not one slice of
ham or one spoon of caviar. Despite of not having all these things, actually, because
of not having all these things, I am unbelievably happy. In May of the last year, I
stopped eating polished rice. Since November of the last year I couldn’t take any
more meals; I couldn’t take water or fruits. Because of this, I was thirsty and starved,
and constantly throwing up all the gastric juices which had collected in my stomach.
I stayed awake every night all night which made me feel dizzy. However, as awful as
this struggle was it appeared fruitful and I became happy.
Thus, the strange thing is that at the time when my life looked happy from the
outside, I was miserable, and vice versa, when it seemed dreadful from the outside, I
became happy within. This is why I think that material wealth is not a key to one’s
mental happiness. In the past, I had whatever I wanted, and yet I was unhappy. Now,
I am lacking everything but I am truly happy.
Be sure to realize the value of this “key to happiness” and apply it to your
lives. You should use my foolish experience and expose your past no matter how
shameful it was! Next time I will talk about this in detail. Until then - take care of
yourselves!
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The advice comer
Am I talented for dying silk?
Please listen to my problem! For two years now I have been studying under a
teacher specializing in printed-silk dying. I like the job and would like to establish
myself in this business. Naturally, in order to do this I need to work hard every day.
However, as much as I want to establish myself, I lack self-confidence. Anyhow, in
this business, it’s either feast or famine! So, I don’t know what to do. What do you
think I should to do to succeeded? Please help!
(Ishikawa, Miyamae Sachiko, age 20)
The oracle
You can do well in the world of dying and weaving. However, taking courses
is not nearly enough. First, during the next five years, clench your teeth and work
hard on mastering the techniques. But you need to understand that while learning
skills and techniques is a matter of class instruction, color and composition should be
studied more profoundly. One way to do this is to make a good use of museums and
libraries. There, you can get familiarized with the superb art from the past and the
present. You can see objects such as writings, drawings, ceramics and printed silk
created by the old masters. Indeed, having nourished your soul by doing this, you
will see things in a more profound way. Secondly, you should seriously take up
Japanese style of painting. Since your nature is at times violent and at times quiet -
you often don’t know how to act and are tortured by your indecisiveness. You can
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improve you character by studying hard and giving yourself to your job during the
next five years. It is also better if you stayed unmarried during this time. Give it your
best!
I refuse to go to school because of bullying
I live alone with my mother and I was really happy until I entered middle
school. My elementary school days were joyful. I didn’t feel a bit strange and I had a
lot of friends. Now, I am in my third year of middle school, and I don’t want to go to
school any more. The reason is a trivial thing. Since I wanted to be liked, from the
beginning I did everything that was asked of me here. But slowly I became pressed
hard by my schoolwork. I realized that here assignments were much harder than in
elementary school. Also, since I have a high-pitched voice, people started calling me
“Burikko” (a strange talker.) So, I slowly stopped talking and started to hate school. I
often pretended I was sick so I wouldn’t have to go.
My mother and my teacher noticed this and at the end I honestly told them
what was wrong. My teacher talked to the class about this problem and as the result,
everybody’s behavior changed completely. I felt a sense of relief, but at the same
time I was uneasy. Nobody trusted me anymore and the atmosphere in the classroom
was even worse than before. What should I do from now on?
(Aomori, Sato Kiyoko, age 15)
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The oracle
Be strong for another year and the half. This period should serve as a life
lesson to you. You haven’t looked at yourself well, because if you did you would
realize that everyone has their good side, but also their selfish side, and that everyone
sometimes ignores other people’s feelings. This is what is repulsive about people in
general. This weakness needs to be corrected.
When we correct this, it will be clear that you are charming and likeable.
Thus, you will be able to go through your school days successfully. All you need to
do is hold on for another year and a half. During this time - you need to be strong
and patient, and as terrible the insensitivity towards your heartache is, you need to
learn to keep your pain to yourself. Also, you need to become a person who will
never treat others as poorly as your classmates treated you. This trial, this lesson is
essential for you. When you graduate from high school you will become independent
from your family. When you become independent - all the doors will be open to you.
(Quitting school and leaving your home right now wouldn’t be a good way to get
your independence, and would not open the doors for you. It’s better to wait until
you grow up!)
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Mu, No. 61,12/1985
Soon this year will end. My column has been published in seven issues of
Mu. We have tried to put into practice the gods’ messages I received so far, and I
hope that the oracles changed you. If there wasn’t much of a change, please be sure
to look at the whole year again. Perhaps you will find what has been missing in your
heart!
What we call god is love!
How is everybody? You can feel the winter these days. If you think that you
should have listened to the messages more seriously, or you think it is too late to do
what gods said now that something serious happened to you - don’t worry!
As far as one’s life in this world is concerned - there is no such thing as
being too late even if it is the moment just before one takes his last breath. Suffering
is hard and nobody wants it. However, as we have learned from god’s messages in
this advice comer, the improvement of one’s fortune depends on how much he is
capable of being grateful for everything that happens in this life. So really, what
should one do to be able to appreciate his trial-times? This is a serious question.
How does one set his mind on being grateful for the hard times, times when
he is sick, when he suffers, or when he has a break-down? We will now receive a
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message answering this important question: the essence of gods lies in their profound
love.
Regardless of whether people believe in god or not, they seem to agree on the
idea of “god” as an enormous concentration of power which cannot be grasped with
human senses. The essence of what this power concentration is in fact love. God,
who talks to us with the same endless kindness we give to our beloved children, can
simply be defined as the existence of profound love. Keep the following idea deeply
in your hearts!
We, the humans, without exception all receive love passionate beyond words
from the highest existence. This love is given to us through the air we breathe,
through water we drink, through the gentle breeze and strong wind we feel.
So, why are there sickness, suffering and death in this world? If everything is
filled with god’s love, why do we have to endure the terror of illness, unhappiness
and death?
Now, everybody - this is essential. What is true love? Let us take the
example of a parent who genuinely loves his child. Since the child is healthy, the
parent lets him indulge in honey and sweets. But then, when the child cries because
he has a bad toothache or because he is sick - is there a parent who would not take
him to the dentist or to a doctor just because the child is afraid and does not want to
go?
Whenever a child is crying, if he doesn’t stop in a while, any loving parent
will drag him to the hospital so that the child does not get worse. This is if the parent
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loves his child. It is because he loves his child. This happens only as long as there is
love. Really, would anyone worry over neighbor’s child’s tooth decay?
So, you are suffering. You can’t forget a past event which hurt you. And from
now on, how many times will you again encounter a problem? Listen to me
carefully! Turn the TV and the radio off and find a quiet spot. You can read the
following message even if you are in a crowded, noisy place, but try to read it again
once you are alone and in a calming atmosphere.
Here is the conclusion of this month’s oracle! You are suffering. Why don’t
you think of your pain as an evidence of the profound love given to you by the gods?
There are a lot of things still left for you to learn. In order to learn these things you
need to go through various life experiences. Why don’t you think of your troubles as
of lessons from a grand curriculum in the global school run by the parents called
gods?
You are overwhelmed with pain. You are even thinking of committing
suicide. Why don’t you try considering this unbearable situation as an
encouragement? Since wise gods would never put you through a painful trial
ignoring your abilities and for no good reason, you need to clench your teeth and
trust them that there is a solution.
Turn around! Young and old, male and female - turn around and look at your
past! No matter how stressed out you were over some trouble, now that it passed, it
looks much smaller. And really, when you overcome your hurdles, they turn into
insignificant period from your past from which you acquired significant experience.
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If a past hurdle still looks to you as a significant period from your life, rather than an
important experience - you still haven’t overcome that hurdle. Do you believe that
this is true?
There is an expression that the universe revolves around “the great love” or
“the great character.” “If this weren’t so, we wouldn’t be able to explain the
evolution and other world’s occurrences.” These are the words of a famous physicist.
Einstein said that real scientists are like religionists in that - while they
conduct serious research in physics - sometimes they also see the “gods.”
God is generally invisible. But even the persons that can see the god are not
better than other people. While one’s eyesight can be 1 or 20, one’s spirit cannot be
measured and people cannot be ranked. It doesn’t matter whether you are psychic or
not - it will not change your rank. Whether you are a physicist, a salesman, or a
farmer, whether you are an adult or a child, whether you are in love, or broken
hearted, wherever and whoever you are, in important situations you will be able to
see the “gods.” Gods really love us and they will take care of us. Now, will everyone
be serious about this?
Take care until the next time!
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Mu, No. 62,01/1986
The message from the oracle
Drama which unexpectedly happened at the end of the old and the beginning of
the new year
How is everybody? Recently so many Mu readers have become my
worshipers that I was really busy on Saturday and Sunday. The worshipers wrote
about various mysterious events they experienced on the mountain which is said to
be the home of the gods. These events happened to the people who visited the
mountain during festivals, the ones who went there on their monthly visit to the
shrine, the ones who came to give their thanks and those who came to pray.
Shinzankai (the center of my activities) will take your letters asking for
advice, but we made it a principle that people go to the mountain in person and take
their prayers and hopes directly to the gods. Do you think you will be able to do that?
Do you have doubts about praying individually since you are not sure that the
gods will realize your prayers? Does that make you uneasy? Well, don’t worry - of
course the gods will listen to you!
Talk to the gods whenever you have a chance. Since originally, anyone was
capable of making a direct connection with the gods, in the distant past, everyone
was like persons they now-days call miko or psychics. Unfortunately, a long time has
passed and many people gradually lost these abilities. This is why persons like me,
who still have them, are doing as much as we can to help people.
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While many people lost their abilities, the gods maintained their perfect
existence from the past. So even now, when gods communicate with people it is a
wonderful and truly exciting experience. This is why I advise you to keep praying by
yourselves. (Of course, when I receive an oracle I will help you, and I will always
provide you with necessary guidance. Still you should pray by yourselves.)
Now, please try to imagine the splendid power from gods as it keeps pouring
on earth like rain, like snow, like mist! It would be wasteful not to accept it! This
power coming from a higher dimension is essential for one’s growth, internal
transformation and improvement.
The only thing you have to do for yourself is to accept this force that has
been continuously pouring at you. If you do that you will reach a success beyond
your wildest imagination. And this is not a fantastic story or an exaggeration! Please
keep this in mind until the next time! You should remember this oracle especially at
times when you encounter a misfortune or a problem; it will make you understand
why they happened.
According to the monthly oracle, the events such as fires in Mexico and
Columbia, plain crashes and the terrorist attacks which make us uneasy, are not all
the effects of Haley’s Comet. This time they are a part of unexpected dramatic events
occurring as the old year is ending and the new year is beginning - “the drama” that
is effecting our lives in various ways.
A while ago, I was trying to see thorough some company’s business and I
ended up running about busily around the New Year. I told them the following:
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“You were not doing that well during the first half of the year. That is the situation at
the moment. The reasons are such as such. So, pay attention to these points.”
Having given them this advice, they said greatly surprised: “we are changing
our plans right away.”
Try to brace your self up until about February. It will feel like a pitfall, but on
the other hand it will also give you time to build a foundation for a rapid progress in
the future. So take care of yourselves until the next time!
Advice comer
Can fortune telling save people?
I am worried about my life’s progress. I am currently studying fortune telling.
At first, I only read a book about fortune telling out of curiosity. However, later I got
the feeling that I have to learn more about it, and I thought I was ready for a more
serious study. And then, since I liked fortune telling so much from the beginning I
decided to stick with studying it.
However, recently, I began having doubts. I am concerned about two
questions. First, is it all right to keep peeping into people’s fortune, and secondly, if I
pursue this further, will I be useful to people in the future? I think that if fortune
telling is not useful to people - it is meaningless. Can you please help this confused
and worried person? Also, even if we suppose that fortune telling is a wonderful
thing - will I be able to do it? If this does not suit me - what else am I supposed to
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do? I would really appreciate your response. (Nagasaki, Yoshida Mitsuko (assumed
name) age 26)
The oracle
First of all, real fortune telling entails an ability to communicate with gods
and use this communication to help people. Being a true prophet means that one is so
dedicated to this path that he or she is ready to risk their life for it.
You can’t tell person’s fate without gods. The path towards knowing the gods
is to hold the highest ideal and to have the deepest love towards people. Being ready
for this should be your starting point. This path has no bottom or ending. Similarly,
the person who takes part in pursuing it will encounter endless joy and suffering.
One should take this road with all one’s might. He/she should be prepared for
anything. In addition, the one who feels that looking into people’s fate is easy does
not have what it takes for studying fortune telling.
Is it in my daughter’s destiny to hind a good husband?
I wrote to you a letter before but since I didn’t receive your reply I am
writing again. I am looking for an oracle regarding a problem my daughter is
struggling with. My daughter graduated from a junior college and has been working
for a bank for ten years. So far, she had several arranged meetings with prospective
husbands, but they did not go well. My daughter says: “If I stay single and continue
working at this job, after I retire I will have nothing and will live a lonely life. So,
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what I would like to do is study calligraphy (which I love), become an instructor in
it, and teach children. On the other hand, as my father says, if I don’t do well in
calligraphy, then I will not have my old job or anything else.” Should my daughter
continue with her old job, and will she find a good husband? Could you please give
me your reading?
(Kagoshima, Nakano Megumi (assumed name) age 30)
The oracle
Your daughter is tired and should rest for two to three years. She should use
this time to prepare for the new career she thinks she will enjoy or to take up a new
hobby. It is important that your daughter has family support during this time. Also,
since she has been hurt before and is now tired of trying to find a husband, there is
no way she will be able to find a good match soon.
Until your daughter gets better, until her eyes brighten up again and her skin
gets back its firmness, she needs her mother’s help. The father should on the other
hand wait calmly. So far, his opinion has only hurt his daughter psychologically; so,
for the time being he should wait until his turn comes. If you don’t follow my
suggestion, your daughter will become so desperate that she will get into a
relationship with a problematic man. Be very careful! If you overcome these next
three years, your daughter will get her cheerfulness back and she will be blessed with
an auspicious encounter. So - hold on!
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Mu, No. 143, 10/1992
The message from the oracle
The absolute condition for winning in life
Mu readers from all over the country - how are you? It’s been a long time!
After four years of silence - we meet again!
This season is wonderful - don’t you think? There is a lot of unrest in the
world, but for the people who were unlucky until now, those who had patience to
wait, those who were hurt, and the ones who worked hard - this is a very good time.
The topic of Olympic games is pretty old by now. However, what you should
remember from Barcelona Olympics - is the face of Magic Johnson (basketball
super star from the United States who was so excited about being able to play there.)
If you missed it - please try to recall it! Magic Johnson has AIDS.
When Magic Johnson announced that he has AIDS and that he is retiring
from professional basketball he lost his top-star position. (He said that in case he got
hurt in the middle of a game, his bloodstain could infect another player with AIDS.)
This by itself was a huge thing. A thoughtless person would not be able to act like
this. But what was even more amazing was that Magic kept his posture during the
Barcelona Olympics. As the result, America was able to send all their top players to
the Olympics. They were gathered in the so-called dream-team. The team surprised
the world with their terrific play and won the gold medal for the US.
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Magic’s announcement that he had AIDS came as a shock to the world,
considering that he who was the one who brought the amazing dream-team together.
It was amazing to see him accept the gold medal - he smiled and his smiling face was
friendly and sincere.
Let’s be clear about it. The formation of the dream team was successful
because Magic Johnson has AIDS. He gathered all the players America was proud
of. All of them played for different teams and were usually opponents. Also, as
world’s top players all of them were so proud that they all promoted their rival’s
names when asked as to who should go to the Olympics. However, it seemed that the
idea that Magic’s passions and his life dreams got a death sentence, cut down his
team-mates’ differences and the players whose personalities previously clashed,
miraculously united. This is why Magic’s name will forever be in sport history!
This all would not be possible if it weren’t for AIDS. He showed that a man
can be a winner even if he has an incurable disease like AIDS.
I often hear the question: how can one face life when he lost a battle? My
answer is: in this life, in the limited time we are given on earth, there is always room
for victory! All people carry in themselves virtues such as purity, optimism,
profound love, passion, sincerity, and patience. I think that the one’s success depends
on how much he is able develop these virtues and use them to win in life.
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Life is full of adventures
Do you like fairytales? Do you secretly think - wouldn’t it be great if I could
do magical things? What do you dream of? What did you dream of in the past? How
many times a year do you think that your life is wonderful?
It is hard do keep being pure. It is hard to keep being optimistic. It is hard to
carry on profound love, passion, sincerity and patience. This is because there are
various obstacles in life. When you encounter mean people, when unpleasant events
happen, when you are deceived and hurt, when things you don’t like occur or when
destiny surprises you, don’t you go around crazily? Don’t you think: what kind of
life is this? In these situations you should think of the popular quiz shows - there, the
point is to encounter the unexpected and feel the tension.
I have realized that people in essence crave stimulation. For instance, let’s
say there is a grade school level arithmetic question in a quiz show; you are surprized
that you don’t understand it but you keep watching since it is you favorite show. At
the end, you got useful experience - when you knew the questions you had fun, and
when you didn’t - you worried about it but learned something. This shows our true
character.
This is all karma. Don’t you think that that is wonderful? After all, we all like
adventure, suspense, romance, mystery and shocking events. Of course, there are
those who think that something is amusing only when it happens to other people.
There are also those who don’t like thrills at all. But there is a funny twist in that - 1
think that if the dramatic development is good - everyone will like it.
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What is the most wonderful thing in the world?
The top mystery of this three-dimensional world is the makeup of one’s
mind. Illness comes from our feelings and thoughts. Person’s mind is a very
complicated matter. When you think: “this is interesting; or, my goodness this is too
much for me;” this is the place where one’s destiny and character are at their
crossroads. There is an expression saying that “other’s misfortune tastes very good.”
(It is also said that “watching fire and fighting was a favorite pastime in Edo
period.”) What do you think about that?
It is in the human nature to find terrible things interesting as long as it is
someone other than you or your loved-ones suffering. This is where the key of the
dark side of our mind is hiding. You can’t judge people according to the idea of
whether they like other people’s adventures or their own. Some people get excited by
other people’s adventures good or bad, while others get excited by their own
unexpected gains and challenges.
Of course, being fond of others’ happy stories goes together with hoping for
adventurous challenges for oneself the same way as being fond of others’
misfortunes goes in pair with hoping for an unexpected gain for oneself. Do you
agree with me?
The truth is simple. But it is amazing how people respond in different ways to
a single situation. Everybody! Do you always understand other people’s intentions in
the right way?
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I thought hard about all this, and I decided to reopen this column after four
years. It is my honor to be your messenger!
Something terrible happened to me. I suffered in great pain. It still hasn’t
ended and even today I can’t open my mouth. It was awful - I clenched my teeth in
pain. My cheeks and my neck were swollen and I couldn’t move my jaw. To my
surprise however, I could speak without moving my lips. I was amazed! Just like a
ventriloquist! It was hard living in such a state. Honestly speaking I had hard time
even yawning. Whenever I opened my mouth to speak the pain was more severe than
during my menstrual period. It was a terrible pain, but I didn’t suffer forever.
Your life can change
Readers of Mu - don’t give up! Whatever it is that is bothering you - don’t
give up! What was it? It is all good when you are happy. But when you get in trouble
- write to me! Please! I will provide you with an answer as I receive the power from
the gods! Here is the oracle!
Everyone who has a wish gather around me! Everyone stand up and come to
me! It is all right if you are struggling! It is all right if you have problems! Just keep
on going - don’t flinch! It doesn’t matter if you feel dirty - if you have will to hold
on - don’t flinch! The mud will come off! The rust will come off! The dirt will come
off! If you have fallen - you will rise again! Are you pure? Do you have some
passion left in you? Do you wish you were dead? What are you afraid of? Let us all
gather together! Even if you think you’ve been to hell many times - it’s o.k. Let us
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all now get together and restore ourselves! Ask me for help! Search the way! From
now on don’t go back a step! Your life can change! Let’s try to do it! Try even if you
don’t believe!
If we are in high spirits, our luck will change in an unbelievable way.
...When I was sick I thought, “perhaps my mouth will stay like this
forever...” but, my long cherished desire to reopen this column has come true. I was
hoping to meet you all again!
I can’t eat real food. I feel a strange pain whenever I open my mouth. Also, I
lost the function of my jaw and teeth. But I don’t mind as long as I can speak.
Fear is nothing but your spirit giving up! I brought up many of my problems
this time. But think about it! How do you break through your problems? You don’t
give up. I didn’t, I am risking my life to help you with this column. Before, I ate tofu,
tomatoes and cucumbers, but now since I can’t bite I mostly eat only tofu. But, when
I take sacred wine and sacred water I am fine without food.
I was recently asked a question: why did you give up several-hundred-
million-yen income (coming from the sales of your manga) to become this
mysterious figure who helps people? To this, I just say that there is a value
difference between the two. How about we make this a question for the next time?
Everyone struggles between this world and the spiritual world. I am looking forward
to your letters on this topic!
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Mu, No. 144, 11/1992
The message from the oracle
You can’t judge a person according to their title
How are you - Mu readers all over the country? I received a lot of mail from
you! Since I was feeling really terrible last time, you didn’t ask for my advice but
rather wrote that you worried about me. I am sorry that I worried you so much and I
am truly grateful for your kindness.
As the evidence of my love for all the devoted readers of Mu - I will do my
best to continue helping you with this column. (I am o.k. now - my life still has not
come to an end, and I will not die. I am so happy that I received an encouraging
message.)
I don’t want to judge 'some person'. This particular person graduated from
Tokyo university and is now a professor there. He is a world-renowned scholar, and
is also involved with the studies of various languages. In addition, he was warmly
accepted by our premier. He has a good reputation and I am proud that he is my
friend. But, at the same time - I hate that man. Whenever I see him, I hate him
because he finished Tokyo University. Are you surprised by this?
I am not saying that I hate everyone who went to Tokyo University. But, I am
yet to see a person from that place whose self-perception I could like. Why am I so
suspicious of the people who went to Todai? It's because they think that they are the
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best in the world! What an attitude! Don’t you want to shout - why is that so? "It’s
because my IQ is higher than yours!"
This is strange - don’t you think? I was once told that my IQ was so high that
I could be an all-fives student2 , but as long as I worked as manga creator I would be
considered a freak. This kind of comment is not unusual. But really, if you expose a
less known story, manga writers should be called the transformed ones rather than
the freaks.
Are you surprised? This is how it is. I myself was surprised to hear that a lot
of girl-manga creators are considered crazy. (Since I was brought up in a strict
household and rarely went out by myself, I never developed a sense of what the
world is like.)
Anyhow, most of the famous women (the creators of girl manga or women
manga) go to nigh clubs and scream “I want a man!” I heard this from people I can
trust and who went to the clubs with these women. I was so surprised by this.
I heard another sad story about a famous female manga creator. According to
rumors, whenever she met a man she would ask him to live with her. Of course, she
would always get disappointed with their answers. At the end, she became
disillusioned with men, seeing that they are all obsessed with sex and incapable of
having a nice relationship. This is a pattern well known within the business world.
2 In Japanese school system the highest grade is a five.
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So, what are you supposed to do to meet a wonderful man? What I am about to tell
you is not just a silly story! Everyone, would you like to have a romance? I am sure
that you all crave a romance! But, what is a romance?
If you want to have a romance, a man and a woman need to get together.
Relationships between lesbians and homosexuals can’t be called romantic. The
questions of right or wrong aside, these relationships are immoral and belong to the
underworld. Another absolute condition for what is called “a world romance” is that
a man and a woman are passionate about each other. Whether the romance ends
happily or tragically, as in Romeo and Juliet, the couple should be ready to go
through various adversities in order to be together. If no one is ready to fight and
risk their lives for a smile or for a rose, the human race will die out.
When we say gentleman, we usually think of a man who controls his sexual
desire for a woman, and is sweet to her. Clearly however, not all gentlemen have to
give up all their sexual desires - only priests do. Even some priests are allowed to get
married. This is related to the idea that we can't cut the connection between sex and
the continuation of the human race.
So then, how should you think about sex? Surely, regardless of who you are
or how much money you have, you should avoid calling someone in the middle of
the night and telling them that you want sex. In other words, if you act rashly and
don’t take time to carefully choose your partners, you can go so low, that it becomes
laughable.
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I am troubled by the misconduct of the people in my profession. But I am
also sick of people saying that “all female manga writers whose manga sell well and
who have a lot of money, are hungry for men." Why can’t women enjoy themselves
without people saying that they are cheap? And why is it, on the other hand, o.k. for
men to have all kinds of seedy affairs with whomever they can find?
Do you think I am completely wrong? What do you think is wrong in this
world? What should we do? What should we do to meet a good partner and have a
wonderful romance, a romance that is not shameful? There is a right person for
everyone. Since you are bom in this world, the right person meant for you is
certainly from this world. You are in their dreams and they are desperately searching
for you.
When thinking of romance, cases like me should be set aside. Because of my
religious involvement, I don’t come into contact with many men. So I am an
exception and cannot be set as a standard. But let me tell you, even if two persons
don’t meet via three-dimensional contact, their souls can meet spiritually and this
spiritual contact can be so strong that it becomes the same as the physical one.
There is no oracle this time! The reason for this is that last time, all of you
Mu readers felt sorry for me, and you wrote letters filled with kind words to cheer me
up. So, since you sent these supportive letters even though there was an oracle last
time, I know that you will keep writing. If you decide to send me a letter - rest
assured - whatever you write will be kept a secret.
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If you are still worried, simply write your age and sex. It’s o.k. if you omit
your name and address. Please write freely about your problems, thoughts or doubts!
I’ll try to reply as soon as I can. I will consult gods in regard to your questions!
Mu, No. 145,12/1992
The oracle
Why are we drawn by wicked temptations?
Mu readers from all over the country - how are you? I was impressed! You
all have my respect!
I received many letters from you since the November issue! I wrote last time
that all you needed to write were your age and sex, but most of you also included
your name and address in your letters!
I also received letters from homosexuals, persons from the fringes of society,
and the ones who eloped with their lovers. I was genuinely impressed! I took your
letters as the evidence that you trusted the gods, Mu and me from the bottom of your
hearts. So seriously, this time, sit up and try to do your best!
The editors handed me your letters sealed, and I personally opened and read
them. You made me think. As I looked at your letters, I saw human life reduced to a
few sentences on a sheet of paper. Many of your letters read: “I have an unusually
strong sex drive.” Others wrote: “Right now, I am not in love, and I am not looking
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for a special relationship, but I still have an abnormally strong sexual desire.” Forget
about all that and lets start over!
There are times when you want to cry, aren’t there? There are times when
you heart is wounded and all you want is to cry. I am right? But, there are also times
when all you want to do is act bad. You shoplift, even though it feels weird; you
sleep around even though you don’t love the people you sleep with; you feel like you
need to hide; you get a rush, your heart is beating really fast, it’s thrilling and you
want it to last; and even though you know you shouldn’t do it, you are so fascinated
by evil that you can’t resist it.
Why is this? Why do we admire gods’ goodness while being drawn by
wicked temptations?
First, sometimes we are simply in a “violent mood.” It is because we want
excitement. We want to be thrilled. At times, we want the experience of our heart
beating like crazy, our spine shivering, our feelings numb. Other times, we have a
strong need to be loved. If we are not blessed with the true love, we’ll take the
impostor - we’ll pretend that we can make someone love us. Yet in the third
situation, we get into a mental state where we can’t stand being without the true love.
There are talented people, self-serving people, loving people (and even
villains can be loving) - but regardless of who they are - people have different
cravings at different times. And the above three are perfectly included in our lives in
this world.
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Your life is determined by whether or not you are in control of your sexuality
We finally came to the main subject! Erratic behavior is on the rise and a lot
of people are admitted into the psychiatric hospitals. This is a fact. It’s not something
I made up - this is something I know. The persons in question are women; a lot of
them.
For instance, a woman says that she can’t stand to pass by a man. The reason
is, she says, that she has strong delusions. Whenever she sees a man she loses control
over herself and is afraid of what she’ll do next.
Originally, our sexuality was an exciting world. But unfortunately this world
somehow became a darker place. Originally, our sexuality was a sweet world.
Originally, there was no unrest, no uneasiness, and nothing to fear. So women
thought that they could trust men. And was there a reason for women to be
untrusting of men?
It’s different now. I am not suggesting that people should clean up their sex
life. I am not saying that the underage persons should be completely excluded from it
either. However, recently I’ve noticed that, some kids are becoming aware of their
sexuality too fast. There is a true story of a kindergarten age girl who provoked boys
by taking off all her clothes in front of them in the broad daylight. This shouldn’t be
happening! Now that I think about it, I’ve also heard of an elementary school girl
who, no matter how many times scolded by the grown-ups, couldn’t stop thinking
about sex and ended up spending all her pocket money on erotic books. The truth is,
unfortunately, you can’t protect kids from the world of sexuality.
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Everyone! As I mentioned just a while ago, ‘sexuality’ is one of three
original parts of one’s consciousness and as such it should be considered a key point
in one’s life. In other words, it is natural that all humans whether young or old, male
or female, have a strong interest in this matter.
Everyone, it’s not abnormal to have a strong sex drive. It is not natural when
your sex drive goes into a strange direction, but it’s natural if your sexuality is
strong. Don’t get discouraged and please don’t blame yourself just because your
sexuality is strong! Is this clear? Because if it’s not I can’t continue! Don’t worry
about feelings you have because many people feel the same way. It is sad if you
think that you have problem - sexuality is neither dirty nor immoral. It should not be
a secret either. There is no place for a guilty consciousness. After all - how would
we have children if it weren’t for sex?
This is clear. Before, I thought that sex was animalistic and I hated it. But
then I realized: sex is clearly in the path bestowed upon us by the gods. Now, where
does the path go? It is not too much to say that this question is what determines one’s
life. For this, we need absolute sincerity and ultimate passion.
Everyone! How did you receive god’s word bestowed upon you a little while
ago? How did it effect your limited life? (Spiritual life aside, how did it effect your
three-dimensional being?) Every life has an end. When your life ends what will be
your parting present to this world? This is the question.
People who suffer from AIDS or cancer feel like they have been given a
death sentence. But human life is anyhow something to be used up. Everyone will
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die someday. Can you do something about it? No, it’s natural. Your body cannot life
eternally. But people don’t live according to this assumption, and that is why we all
think about sex too much! This is also where our path departed from that of gods’!
Everyone! There is no message from gods this time. I am expecting serious
letters from you! I have been sitting up all night and it is morning now. Next time we
will hopefully get an oracle. If we are serious, gods will grant us an answer!
Everyone, let the gods know that we are serious!
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PART 2
COMMENTARY
INTRODUCTION
Groups such as Omotokyo, Soka Gakkai, Reiyukai and Aum Shinrikyo are
only a few of some four thousand so-called new religions currently thriving in Japan.
These movements have been founded during the past hundred and fifty years, and
while many of their teachings originate from Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism and
Christianity, their novelty lies in their reinterpretation of the traditional teachings and
practices to suit the man of the contemporary Japan.3 New religious movements are
commonly divided into “older-new” and “new-new” religions with the latter having
been founded after 1970.
The term “new-new” (or “neo-new”) religions was originally invented by
journalists to mark a boom in spiritualism in Japan during the mid-1970s.4 Some
scholars consider the term problematic since the group of religions it stands for
shares a number of features with the “older-new” religions. At the same time
however, the new-new groups exhibit many characteristics that distinguish them
from the older movements and thus the term “new-new religions” has been widely
used to demarcate these differences.
3 Clarke, Peter, ed., Bibliography o f Japanese New Religious Movements, Curzon Press LTD., 1998.
4 Hardacre, Helen, “Shinmeiaishinkai and the study of shamanism in contemporary Japan,” in
Kornicki P. and I. McMullen eds., Religion in Japan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996,
p. 199.
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To be more precise, most scholars list 1) charismatic founders, 2) emphasis
on shamanism, 3) faith healing and 4) community orientation as some of the
important elements most older-new religions have in common.5 Moreover,
Hardacre’s work suggests that all of these common features are in fact expressions of
a more fundamental source - a spiritual world view older-new religions share, and
which is centered on the idea that “self-cultivation of the individual determines
destiny.”6
Looking at the new-new religions by contrast, one notices the continuation of
some older-new religions’ traditions (such as shamanic practices and charismatic
leaders) but also a gradual disappearance of others.7 Thus, according to more recent
scholarship, five principle features distinguish older-new from new-new religions.
First, while middle-aged women represent the majority of older-new religions’
followers, the membership of new-new religions includes predominantly young
people aging from adolescents to persons in their thirties. Second, while the
organization of the older-new religions revolves around frequent group meetings,
new-new religions usually convey their ideas via mass media, including published,
audio and video materials. In some groups, such as Science of Happiness,
membership activities, including formal introduction into the religion, function as
5 See for instance McFarland, Neill, The Rush Hour o f the Gods, A Study o f New Religions in Japan,
New York: MacMillan Company, 1967; Nishiyama, S. “Youth, Deprivation and New Religions: A
Sociological Perspective,” The Japan Christian Quarterly Yol. 57, 1991.
6 Hardacre, H. Kurozumikyo and the New Religions of Japan, Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1986, p. 188.
7 The following discussion of the characteristics of the new-new religions is adapted from Hardacre,
“Shinmeiaishinkai and the study of shamanism in contemporary Japan,” pp. 200-203; see also
Nishiyama, S. “Youth, Deprivation and New Religions: A Sociological Perspective,” The Japan
Christian Quarterly Vol. 57, 1991.
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intellectual rather than religious activities. In others, such as GLA - God Light
Association - the followers are encouraged to experience the spiritual world for
themselves and personally communicate with gods in search for solutions to their
problems. Third, most founders of older-new groups legitimized their spiritual power
and teachings by offering stories of trial and suffering they personally went through
on their way to the ‘great understanding.’ The leaders of new-new religions on the
other hand, usually have no such previous spiritual experience, training or religious
martyrdom. Fourth, while older-new religions consider themselves universal, new-
new religions cater explicitly to certain groups of people, such as university students,
small-business owners or teenagers. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the world
view of new-new religions differs somewhat from that of the older-new movements.
In short, while the view shared by older-new groups is world affirming in suggesting
that an individual’s effort alone can change his life circumstances, the stance of most
new-new religions is more pessimistic claiming that one cannot rely on one’s own
effort/ability to solve problems, and insisting that help from the supernatural is
necessary.
Now, two questions require some attention: first, what influenced the
development of this latest group of Japanese new religions? And, more specifically,
what influenced their somewhat negative outlook? Nishiyama interprets the
appearance of new-new movements as a part of larger social trends that occurred in
Q
Japan in the past thirty years. According to the author, in the decades following
8 Nishiyama, “Youth, Deprivation and New Religions: A Sociological Perspective,” pp. 6-10.
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World War II, the Japanese were largely preoccupied with rebuilding their nation as
well as with finding ways to reach personal and financial security. However, the
economic problems that started with oil shocks in 1973 and culminated in the
recession of the 1990s contributed to the change in mentality by bringing the
disillusionment with technology and a sense of exhaustion from uniformity and
bureaucracy.
According to Nishiyama, “the new social climate encourage[d] a reevaluation
of modem rational society and its attendant problems (such as environmental
pollution and human alienation caused by excessive social control and
management.)”9 Thus, many turned to the ‘non-rational’ in the search for help with
these issues. The heightened interest in the spiritual has been especially strong
among Japanese youth. Burdened with the same long and tedious educational
process their parents went through, but facing very different world when they
graduate, young people have found themselves feeling lost and wondering about
their uncertain future. Thus, what they have been looking for in religion during these
past few decades are “spiritual energy,” a sense of freedom, and most of all, ethical
guidance to discover a new meaning of life.1 0 According to Nishiyama, new-new
religions founded in this period have offered young people a religious experience
that fulfills exactly these needs.
9 Nishiyama, “Youth, Deprivation and New Religions: A Sociological Perspective,” p. 7.
1 0 Nishiyama, “Youth,” p. 10; see also Mullins, M., “Japan’s New Age and Neo-New Religions:
Sociological Interpretations,” in J. Lewis and G. Melton eds., Perspectives on the New Age, New
York: State University of New York Press, 1992.
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I would suggest, however, that in the plethora of the new-new religions
catering to Japanese youth, one group of movements stands out. These are the
religions that originated from popular culture and that convey their doctrines
wrapped up in a language young people can understand - the language of popular
literature.1 1 The group entitled Subikari Koha Sekai Shindan, for instance, was
established by manga (comic-book) author Kuroda Minoru. Kuroda was originally
well known for writing spiritual and horror manga for girls.1 2 In 1990, his group had
about 4500 followers, most of whom were young women - the fans of Kuroda's
manga. Thus, beside being the high priest of Subikari Koha Sekai Shindan, Kuroda
also supervises his fan club in which girls gather and have fun learning about the
“invisible world.”
Further, Kazumasa Hirai, the original creator of "The Eight Man" (a popular
TV animation) and “Armageddon Girl” has been involved with a group called the
God Light Association (GLA.) Before 1976, Hirai’s work used to be regarded as
occult violence manga. But since 1976, his works became extremely religious. Hirai
says that he met "an angel", and many suspect that this angel means Keiko
Takahashi, a daughter of Nobuji Takahashi, the founder of GLA. After her father's
death, Keiko became a leader of GLA at the age of twenty. She published a book
1 1 When Japanese public, especially youth started showing an interest in mysticism, geomancy and
traditional Japanese folk beliefs in the 1970s, the trend was quickly picked up by the media. The
media started publishing several magazines (such as Mu and The Twilight Zone) as well as many
comic book series specializing in the supernatural; (Nishiyama, “Youth,” p. 7.) For more information
on youth especially young girls’ spirituality and popular culture see also Napier, S., “Vampires,
Psychic Girls, Flying Women and Sailor Scouts - Four Faces of the Young Female in Japanese
Popular Culture,” in D. P. Martinez ed., The Worlds o f Japanese Popular Culture, Gender, Shifting
Boundaries and Global Cultures, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
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entitled Shinsoseiki which became a best seller. Hirai wrote a preface to the book and
confessed that his life has completely changed after meeting Keiko. He also created a
non-fictional story called Genma Taisen in which her religious group is involved.
Finally, the group called Shinzankai was founded by manga creator
Yamamoto Sumika after she had received a message from gods telling her to become
a spiritual leader. As in the case of Subikari Koha Sekai Shindan, Shinzankai caters
predominantly to teenage girls - consumers of the founder’s comic books. The rest
of this essay will be dedicated to this group and its leader Yamamoto. Two major
reasons lie behind my decision to discuss this particular new-new religion. First,
while there has been a lot written about several larger new-new movements, such as
Mahikari and Aum Shinrikyo, the group of religions closely connected to Japanese
popular culture has so far been acknowledged but not closely examined. Secondly,
Shinzankai was chosen for its female leadership. To be more precise, one can find
abundant literature on the significance of female founders of the older-new religions,
but there is not much written on their role in the new-new movements. This essay
aims to start filling that gap.
Thus, in the following chapters, I will first define the term religion and place
the leader of Shinzankai in the historical framework of female leadership in the
Japanese new religions. This will be followed by the discussion of the foundress’
biography and thought. I will conclude with remarks about the significance of the
group within the context of Japanese contemporary religiosity.
1 2 Ando, Naohiko, “Kyoso ni natta mangaka, tenshi to koshin suru SF sakka” in Imadoki no
Kamisama, Bessatsu Takarajima 114: Tokyo: JICC Shuppankyoku, 1990.
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THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Since one of my basic claims is that Shinzankai and other new-new religions
provide ethical guidance for their followers, for the purpose of this study, I will use a
definition of religion that relates religion to one’s sense of identity and the moral
good.
In his Sources of the Self, Taylor identifies the term “spiritual” with one’s
ability to make moral, or what he calls, “strong evaluations.”1 3 Under strong
evaluations, the author considers claims which “involve discrimination of right or
wrong, better or worse, higher or lower, [and] which are not rendered valid by our
own desires, inclinations, or choices, but rather stand independent of these and offer
standards by which they can be judged.”1 4 In other words, Taylor relates spirituality
to one’s ability to make ethical claims. According to the author, religion provides
one with the responses to questions such as what makes human life meaningful, or
what is to be considered right, dignified or worth of admiration. In short, it supplies
humans with a set of fundamental values which they can model their actions upon.
Thus, in Taylor’s terms, religion may be defined as a network of moral claims,
postulating a normative order to the universe in which human beings exist.1 5
1 3 Taylor, Charles, Sources o f the Self, The Making o f M odem Identity, Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1989, p. 4.
1 4 Taylor, Sources, p. 4
1 5 Slingerland, E., "Introduction" to Effortless Action: Wu-wei as Conceptual Metaphor and Spiritual
Ideal in Early China, forthcoming, Oxford University Press.
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This definition proposes religiosity as the source of human morality and
identity. It suggests that without a spiritual basis, people would be unable to function
since they would be unable to make moral evaluations.1 6 According to Taylor, when
we think of our identity, we go beyond our name and genealogy to think of the
affiliations and commitments which help us form a view on moral questions. In other
words, our need to make moral identifications comes from our identity as human
beings. In Taylor’s terms then, the moral space we inhabit, that is, how we think of
ourselves and of others, is equally important and as real as our biological existence.
Further, our self-perception does not exist as “an a priori unity of a human
life through its whole extent.”1 7 On the contrary, our moral identity evolves
throughout our existence and this process is for us so crucial that, according to
Taylor, it essentially turns our lives into a narrative or a quest for good.
Finally, and most importantly for my study, our moral claims are neither pre
existent nor pre-cultural. This means that people coming from different spiritual
backgrounds have different rather than better or worse moral views. It further means
that our Western “absolute truths” coming from the European Enlightenment
philosophy are neither self-explanatory nor absolutely valid. On the contrary, even
modem “scientific” identity is based on certain spiritual frameworks.1 8
For the purpose of my study, I will assume then, that Japanese new-new
religions represent systems of thought that enable their members to make moral
1 6 Taylor, Sources, pp. 27-30.
1 7 Taylor, Sources, pp. 49-52.
1 8 In case of utilitarianists for instance, these are found in their beliefs in ideals or rationality and
benevolence. Taylor, Ibid., p. 31.
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(strong) evaluations. Further, the sources of their moral claims are to be traced to
Shinto, Buddhism and other older religious systems appropriated by the groups’
founders, but also to the founders’ own spiritual encounters with the deities.
THE LEGACY OF FEMALE LEADERSHIP IN THE JAPANESE NEW
RELIGIONS
The scholarship on women in the older generations of new religions is
abundant, and it suggests that women’s role in these movements is important for the
following reasons: first, many of these groups were founded by charismatic women;
second, as already noted, women form the majority of their congregations; and third,
women are ascribed magical powers and thus play a crucial role in the groups’
religious practices. It is interesting however, that in most older-new religions women
lose their leadership roles once the movements are established. In addition, the
doctrines of the groups even when founded by women are patriarchal and perpetuate
female inferiority in both religious and secular matters.
Thus, one of the engaging issues regarding female leaders of older-new
religions concerns the paradox between their patriarchal religious doctrines (i.e. the
ideal femininity they preached) and their own unorthodox lives.1 9 As an example let
me briefly discuss the life story of Sayo Kitamura, the foundress of the group called
1 9 Hardacre, “Japanese New Religions: Profiles in Gender,” in John Hawley ed., Fundamentalism and
Gender, New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
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Tensho-kotai-jingu-kyo. Sayo was bom in 1900 in Hizumi, a village in Western
Japan.2 0 As a girl, she received six years of primary schooling and spent three more
years learning crafts and other womanly tasks. She was married at the age of twenty
to a man from a neighboring village. The event that led to Sayo’s spiritual awakening
was the fire that destroyed her whole household in 1944 and for which she felt
responsible. After the fire, Sayo started visiting a shrine daily, and soon she
experienced her first revelation. Sayo claimed to have been possessed by the
universal God - Tensho-kotai-jingu. She “declared herself to be the savior and
redeemer of humanity and announced that the Kingdom of God was being
established here and now.”2 1 The revelation also changed Sayo’s character. Once a
subservient and timid wife, she now turned into an assertive person who was known
for criticizing people and pointing out the injustices she saw around her. She wore
masculine clothes and was famous for her passionate speeches. She treated her
husband as her follower until he died.
While Sayo’s life seems to have been an example of women’s agency of the
1940s, her actions were never represented in her gender ideology. In her writings,
Sayo always related women to their traditional roles of wife and mother.2 2 Thus,
while she did teach women to speak up for themselves, she failed to challenge the
patriarchal framework they lived in.
2 0 Nakamura, Kyoko, “No Woman’s Liberation: The Heritage of a Woman Prophet in Modern Japan,”
in N. Falk and R. Gross eds., Unspoken Worlds: Women’s Religious Lives, Belmont: Wadsworth
Publishing Company, 1989.
2 1 Nakamura, “No Woman’s Liberation,” p. 136.
22 Nakamura, “No Woman’s Liberation,” p. 141.
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Sayo is hardly the only female leader of an older-new religion who led an
unconventional life but preached conventional ideas. Deguchi Nao, who co-founded
Omotokyo, Kotani Kimi, the co-founder of Reiyukai, and Nakayama Miki, the
originator of Tenrikyo, are three more examples of what represents a pattern in
female foundership of Japanese older-new religions.2 3
Now, why is it that these women who in their lifetimes bravely challenged
society’s gender norms, failed to extend their experience to women in general? In her
1989 writings, Nakamura suggested that one of the most important reasons for the
discrepancy was the groups’ patriarchal ideology coming from their conservative
world view which considered “preserving traditional [patriarchal] family as an
essential condition for maintaining society.”2 4
In one of her more recent studies, however, Nakamura claimed that the
changes in the secular sphere that occurred in the 1990s influenced the changes in
gender ideology of older-new religions. I would suggest then that this recent trend
2 3 For more information see Hardacre, “Gender and the Millennium in Omoto Kyodan: The Limits of
Religious Innovation,” in Williams, Cox and Jaffee eds., Innovation in Religious Traditions, Berlin
and New York: Mouton de Grutyer, 1992; E. Ooms, Women and Millenarian Protest in Meiji Japan,
Ithaca: Cornell University, 1993. McFarland, Neill, The Rush Hour of the Gods', Hardacre, Lay
Buddhism in Contemporary Japan: Reiyukai Kyodan, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984;
Nakayama, Shozen, “Woman’s Position Viewed by Tenrikyo,” Tenri Journal o f Religion, Vol. 3,
1963;
2 4 Nakamura, “No Woman’s Liberation,” p. 143.
2 5 Nakamura examined religious consciousness and practice in two groups: Buddhism-based Rissho
Koseikai and Christianity-based Episcopal Church of Japan. According to the author, most Buddhist-
related older-new religions have abolished their ideas that women need to be submissive, and that
compared to men, they have more impediments to reaching enlightenment. Rissho Koseikai has also
started educational programs aiming at changing the traditionally oriented consciousness of female
followers. The efforts have however, proven futile, except among young women. In the case of the
Episcopal Church of Japan, Nakamura argues that women have been emancipated from Japanese
traditional gender roles, but are still under the influence of Christian patriarchal ideology. In
Nakamura, “The Religious Consciousness and Activities of Contemporary Japanese Women,
Japanese Journal o f Religious Studies, Vol. 24/1-2, 1997, p. 105.
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towards liberalization of gender roles in the Japanese society, suggests that the
female leaders of new-new religions, who founded their groups in this period are
likely to foster similar liberal ideas not only in their lives but in their doctrines as
well.
YAMAMOTO’S LIFE STORY - FROM A SUCCESSFUL MANGA CREATOR
TO A SPIRITUAL LEADER
Yamamoto Sumika was bom in 1949 into a family she calls “a bunch of
overachievers.”2 6 Her father was a successful Tokyo businessman and a prominent
public personality; her mother, an educated woman, was once a famous beauty. Even
her brother appeared to be a multi-talented prodigy from his early age. Thus, ever
since she could remember, Sumika thought of herself as of the only ‘ordinary’
person in her family. This, together with her poor health, made her feel inadequate
and unhappy throughout her childhood. She contemplated suicide as a third-grader.
Sumika was constantly sick until her college years. She was plagued with
allergies, headaches, insomnia, and dizzy spells. Due to various illnesses she always
felt weak and had to miss most of the important events in her school. Despite her
physical and psychological problems, however, Sumika was an excellent student.
She even managed to become a vice-chairman of the student congress in high school.
2 6 Yamamoto, Sumika, “Yamamoto Sumika Goshintaku,” Mu, No. 60, 1985, p. 180.
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After graduating from high school, she went on to an art-college and excelled there
as well.
Yamamoto found a job as a manga creator in the late 1960s. As in her
academic endeavors, she proved to be quite a success in the comic-book art world.2 7
Critics connect her early work to the generation of shojo (young girls’) manga
creators whose work promoted the expansion of shojo and distinguished it from
shonan (boys’) manga. Yamamoto’s most important (and the most popular) work is
“Esu o Nerae” (“Aim for the Ace”.) The story first came out in 1972. It was
influenced by the victory of the Japanese Women’s Volleyball Team at the 1964
Olympics. (Their victory, in fact, had a profound impact on the women’s liberation
movement and the popularization of female athletes in Japan, inspiring a number of
manga exploring the theme of women in sports.
“Aim for the Ace” is centered on a teenage tennis player named Oka Hiromi.
At the beginning of the series, Hiromi is a beginner player but has great talent and
more importantly, a strong character. The idea that one’s perseverance and goal-
oriented mind can overcome all the obstacles seems to be one of the main messages
the author is conveying to her young readers. Thus, in the course of the five-year
period, the reader follows Hiromi’s life filled with numerous problems: hard training,
rivalry with her teammates, the death of her coach, and the psychological anguish of
adolescence. At the end of the narrative, Hiromi (now eighteen) comes out as a
young adult who has learned to take life as it comes. She has realized that one needs
2 7 Information on Yamamoto’s career as a manga writer provided by Dennis Hirschmann in
http://aceonerae.dreamers.com/english/ace_auth.htm
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to make mistakes in order to succeed, and that what counts is learning from one’s
errors and overcoming one’s difficulties.
Yamamoto’s narrative advocating a young girl’s independence and self-
sufficiency coincided with the ideology of the second wave of Japanese feminism
appearing in the early 1970s. They both (Yamamoto indirectly while feminists
directly) sought to establish women’s strong self-identity and change women’s
traditionally assigned role as men’s dependents within the household. I found this
parallel interesting for two reasons. First, it is fascinating to trace Yamamoto’s
gender ideas to a secular feminist discourse. Second, and more importantly, the
feminist ideas Yamamoto came up with during her career as a manga artist seem to
have become the basis for the gender ideology of Shinzankai in the 1980s and 1990s.
Yamamoto felt spiritual powers throughout her childhood years, but it was
only on February 3, 1983, while she was thinking about a story for a new manga,
that she received a clear message from the gods.2 8 The voice she heard said that she
was to become a miko (or a shaman.) A year after her first revelation, Yamamoto
started writing a spiritual manga set in Heian period (794-1185.)2 9 The story was
centered on a young miko who fought evil by transmitting messages from gods.
Originally, the manga was supposed to be a historical romance, but in reality a lot of
space was dedicated to the examination of either the spiritual world or Yamamoto’s
2 8 The account of Yamamoto’s spiritual experiences and her religious group Shinzankai is adapted
from Ando Naohiko, “Kyoso ni natta mangaka, tenshi to koshin suru SF sakka” in Imadoki no
Kamisama, Bessatsu Takarajima 114: Tokyo: JICC Shuppankyoku, 1990, pp. 228-233.
2 9 There are a number of other female shojo-manga creators who have spiritual abilities or claim to
have been contacted by gods. For instance, while Yamagishi Ryoko claims she experienced a spirit
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personal experiences unrelated to the story-line (29 out of total 50 pages). Thus, the
editors of the magazine {Puchi Fur aw a or Petit Flower,) in which Yamamoto’s
manga appeared, decided that the author was problematic and stopped publishing her
work. Another magazine however, became interested in her story, and in late 1984,
Yamamoto started a comic book in which she herself as a miko was the main
character. She stopped eating and drinking; (except for milk and sacred wine) and
claimed to have been writing while in trance led by the gods’ will.
In 1985, Yamamoto declared herself a miko and wrote several essays
describing the messages she received from the gods. The essays were published in
the occult magazine Mu. In addition, Yamamoto started answering personal
questions Mu readers sent to the magazine editors. Her advice, which according to
the shaman came from the gods, eventually became so popular that the magazine
awarded her a regular column.
Yamamoto wrote for Mu from 1985 to 1986 and again in 1992. Her column
called “a message from the oracle” customarily consisted of two parts. The first
represented Yamamoto’s account of her communication with gods, and was usually
followed by an advice comer. What became a problem for the editors of Mu
however, was that at times, the gods did not send their messages to Yamamoto. Thus
occasionally, she failed to reply to her readers’ personal questions and her column
included only ‘the general’ message. This however did not diminish Yamamoto’s
popularity. It seemed that the readers appreciated her sincerity and kindness almost
phenomenon, Miyuchi Suzue says that she was contacted by an UFO in a dream and based on this
experience she wrote (spiritual manga) “Amaterasu.” (see Ando, “Kyoso ni natta mangaka,” p. 228)
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as much as they revered her spiritual ideas. Moreover, a group of girls went so far in
their admiration for Yamamoto that they followed her when she decided to found a
live-in religious commune named Shinzankai.
The headquarters of Shinzankai were established in 1985 on a mountain in
Yamanashi prefecture. They consist of a few simple houses, auditoriums, and several
shrines dedicated to Konohanasakuyahime and a number of other Shinto gods. The
group holds regular meetings which are open to the public and which remind one of
Shinto rituals. During the meetings, sake and flowers are offered to the gods. People,
mostly young girls, come to the shrine, clap their hands, bow and pray. Everyone
then waits for the gods to convey a message to them through Yamamoto - if that
does not happen, then everyone prays and the meeting is over.
The relation between Yamamoto and her followers reminds one of a close
family. The girls who live on the Shinzankai compound dress the same, but the
atmosphere within the group is relaxed and there does not seem to be a strict
discipline or organization to it. The girls commonly spend a few months in the
commune, but some stay a year or longer. Since Yamamoto’s father, a rich
businessman from Tokyo, provides financial assistance to the group, Shinzankai
does not have to rely on its followers for economic aid. The appeal of the group then
seems to be Yamamoto’s charismatic personality, as well as the emotional support
and moral guidance she offers to her followers.
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YAMAMOTO’S THOUGHT
At first glance, the core of Yamamoto’s religion seems to have been adapted
from Shinto. In fact, I would suggest that the shaman appropriated elements of this
and other Japanese traditions to legitimize herself as a spiritual leader and to
establish her group as a religious group. First, she legitimized herself as an oracle,
(or the one who has a direct relation to the normative order set by the gods), by
claiming to have been contacted by Shinto deities. Accordingly, she asserted that her
writings represented gods’ messages rather than her own ideas. Second, Yamamoto
legitimized her group as a valid religion by founding Shinto-alike shrine and
observing Shinto-like rituals, including purification rites.3 0
However, while Shinzankai gods as well as its rites and practices were
adapted from Shinto, Yamamoto’s ethical thought draws heavily from various other
sources. Among these, the most prominent seem to be Japanese older-new religions,
Buddhism and the “religion” of Western liberalism. To be more precise, the self-
proclaimed shaman grafted liberal ideas of Western “enlightenment religion”3 1 onto
3 0 For instance, Yamamoto offers a following recipe for spiritual purification to her Mu readers:
“First, we need salt. In addition, we need a small plate and a small spoon - both purified by washing.
With the spoon, take as much salt as you would use in twenty-one days, and place it in a mountain
shape on a plate. (Make sure that it wasn’t defiled by human breath.) Further, leave this on the family
altar or on a place facing east or south and higher than your eye-level. Then every day, if possible at a
fixed time, (for instance right after you get up) pray to the gods from your heart, and add a spoonful of
the salt to a glass of water and drink it. Repeat this regularly for twenty-one days.” {Mu, No. 59, 1985,
p. 185.)
1 To reiterate, the term “Enlightenment religion” is adapted from Taylor’s Sources and used here to
mark the spiritual system which originally came from the European Enlightenment philosophy (was
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the Japanese traditional normative order. The concepts she seemed to have adapted
from Western liberalism include the single origin of all religions and gods,
individualism, and the equality of sexes. By introducing these ideas Yamamoto
opened up a new spiritual framework and changed the moral space for her members.
Thus, Yamamoto’s claim that her ideas have been transmitted to her from Shinto
gods provides spiritual validation for her followers to utilize Shinzankai liberal
attitudes as morally correct. I would suggest that to her young audience - the
Japanese teenagers tom between traditional values as propagated by their parents and
the school system on the one hand, and Western liberalism coming from film, music
and other forms of Western pop-culture on the other - this is one of the elements that
made Yamamoto’s religion quite attractive.
Finally, while Yamamoto’s doctrine has not been systematized, her ideas
appear in two written sources: her comic-book “Aim for the Ace” and her writings in
Mu magazine. “Aim for the Ace” functions as the bible of Shinzankai. Yamamoto’s
followers look to implement the ideas from the manga into their lives. One concept
Yamamoto conveys via Hiromi’s story is that even ordinary persons can succeed in
overcoming their limits if they put all their effort into their endeavors. Another moral
concept the story offers is that one should always think of others before acting.
In addition to “Aim for the Ace,” the most significant tenets of Yamamoto’s
ethical thought can be inferred from her contribution to Mu magazine. At the first
glance, Yamamoto’s writings in Mu may seem as “Dear Abby” type of counseling
developed throughout the twentieth century) and which, according to Taylor, we (in the West) now
use as rational and void of normative components.
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sessions - she receives everyday questions from her readers and then replies to them
with common-sense advice. Upon a more careful examination however, it becomes
evident that the writings in fact represent a spiritual text enabling Yamamoto’s
followers to make strong moral evaluations. In other words, both Yamamoto’s
general messages in Mu and her answers to readers’ individual dilemmas provide her
followers with a set of fundamental values they can model their actions upon.
The pursuit of happiness
The search for happiness appears to be one of the main concerns in
Yamamoto’s teachings. Similar to most leaders of Japanese older-new religions, she
tackles questions such as how to reach greater personal fulfillment in life and how to
deal with unfortunate events. However, throughout the practical advice she offers to
her followers, the shaman carefully weaves in her ideas of what is meaningful in life
and what moral values one should live by.
For instance, Yamamoto offers various suggestions of how to improve the
quality of one’s life, develop one’s hidden talents, get a god job or find love.
However, before and within each of her suggestions stands a simple message: first
and foremost, one should be thankful for what he has.3 2 Thus, Yamamoto proposes
the sense of gratitude as the basis of human happiness. She claims that people should
3 2 For instance, Yamamoto, ‘The Message from the Oracle,” Mu, No. 60, 1985, p. 180.
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think of every situation in their lives as ‘a precious gift’ from gods. Everything that
happens to us is gods’ will and it is up to us whether we will accept it or not.
Ultimately, according to the shaman, if a person accepts his life and learns to be
grateful for it, he will be happy.
Yamamoto’s idea of accepting one’s life and appreciating it as a creation of a
higher power can be traced to traditional Japanese thought (i.e. Buddhism and
Shinto) as well as Western religious dogmas (i.e. Christianity.)3 3 And, as in these
religions, the idea of acceptance of one’s life circumstances is closely related to the
concept of theodicy or “a defense of god’s goodness and omnipotence in view of the
existence of evil.”3 4 In short, Yamamoto’s message is: we should accept our life
because no matter how it seems to us, it is gods’ will, and only they know what is
good for us.
Further, according to the shaman, the gods not only know what is good for us
but they do everything out of profound love for us.3 5 Thus, while we certainly
experience some events in our lives as painful, they are brought upon us for a certain
reason that is beyond our immediate comprehension, but for our greater good. To
illustrate, Yamamoto compares our relation to the gods with that between a child and
his parents. She suggests that children do not always understand their parents’
actions and yet they should never question their parents’ motives because everything
that a loving parent does is in the child’s best interest. For instance, if the child is
3 3 See Spae, Shinto Man, p. 52; Berger, Peter, The Sacred Canopy, New York, London and Sidney:
Doubleday, 1967, pp. 52-80.
3 4 Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, p. 1222.
3 5 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 61, 1985, p. 184.
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sick, the parent will take him to receive medical treatment. The parent will do this
regardless of how painful the treatment might be for the child as long as it will make
him better. So, what gods do is bring us through numerous experiences designed to
make us learn. In Yamamoto’s words, “you [should] think of your troubles as of
lessons from a grand curriculum in the global school run by the parents called
gods.”3 6
Further, according to Berger, theodicy functions as a form of psychological
relief for the individual and/or an explanation of social inequities for the poor. It is
thus directed toward persons in unfortunate circumstances - the sick, the lonely, and
the poverty-stricken.3 7 And in fact, Yamamoto suggests that a person needs to feel
grateful to the gods even “in times of failure and breakdown, or when one has been
insulted or humiliated or when the person himself or a loved-one is stricken by an
incurable disease.”3 8
Finally, according to Berger, when a person is suffering, what he wants the
most is relief. However, if the end of suffering does not seem possible or seems
remote, what the person needs is an explanation of why the higher power made him
suffer.3 9 Yamamoto’s answer to this question reminds one of the older-new
religions’ theodicies.4 0 As noted, the shaman claims that we are made to suffer in
order to learn; gods decide what will happen to people. However, it is up to us to
3 6 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 61, 1985, p. 185.
3 7 Berger, The Sacred Canopy, pp. 57-59.
3 8 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 56, 1985, p. 184.
3 9 Berger, The Sacred Canopy, p. 58.
40 While older-new religions vary in their explanation of the source of evil, one of their most common
arguments is that it is “nothing but a mental projection.” McFarland, The Rush Hour, p. 80.
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react to their decisions in the right way. We need to show ‘grace under fire’ -
because according to Yamamoto “illness comes from our feelings and thoughts.”4 1
And “[f]ear is nothing but your spirit giving up!”4 2 According to the shaman, those
who give in to fate and feel bitter and hateful in difficult situations are unfortunate.
On the other hand, the ones who find strength to be grateful for everything that
happens to them will develop real courage and passion, and ultimately will be happy.
Aside from its traditional purpose of consoling the sick and the poor,
Yamamoto’s emphasis of the value of gratitude carries an added meaning in the
Japanese contemporary society. It is also aimed at those who have much to be happy
about but do not know how to appreciate and enjoy their life. In this sense,
Shinzankai ideology functions as a social agent that has slowly been reviving the
spiritual aspect of materialistically rich but mentally somewhat barren lives of certain
young Japanese.4 3 In other words, like other new-new religions, Yamamoto’s
teachings offer a spiritual outlet away from society norms. First, she suggests that
everyone should take a look at their life and try to be grateful for it. Second,
according to the shaman, we should study our past experiences and try to learn from
them. I would suggest that this two-step self-examination, instills a positive life
attitude in her followers and gives them an alternative way of thinking about their
days seemingly filled with routine and monotonous tasks.
4 1 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 143, p. 148.
42 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 143, p. 149.
4 3 In Nishiyama’s words, most new-new religions respond to the ethical and psychic deprivation
recently experienced by Japanese youth. In Nishiyama, “Youth, Deprivation and New Religions,” pp.
4-10.
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Yamamoto offers an account of her own life-story as an example of how a
person lost in the demands of modem life can find true happiness.4 4 According to the
shaman, at first sight, her childhood appeared to be perfect. She was bom into a rich
and well-educated family, had all that money could buy, and was also intelligent and
well liked by her teachers as well as her friends. As a teenager, Yamamoto in fact
became so popular with boys that she was proposed for marriage a number of times
before she turned seventeen. However, despite all this Yamamoto claims to have
been miserable both as a child and as a young adult. She was overwhelmed by all the
material things people surrounded her with but which never made her happy.
The shaman claims that only when she heard the gods’ message for the first
time, only when she found her spirituality and cast off her material possessions did
she feel a genuine peace and fulfillment. She notes, “the strange thing is that at the
time my life looked happy from the outside, I was miserable, and vice versa, when it
seemed dreadful from the outside, I became happy.”4 5 Thus, as one finds in the
Buddhist tradition, Yamamoto suggests that happiness does not lie in gaining and
preserving material possessions. On the contrary, (at least as it happened in her case)
being rich could prevent one from reaching spiritual happiness.
According to her writings in Mu, however, Yamamoto never suggests that her
followers should get rid of all of their possessions in order to be happy. What she
suggests is that one should not be overwhelmed by the demands and standards of the
society one lives in. If one does, the shaman seems to be suggesting, one can end up
44 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 60, 1985, p. 180.
45 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 60. 1985, p. 180.
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having or doing things which will make one - as a person - miserable. And this
seems to be getting at the core of how the young generation in Japan (or elsewhere
for that matter) already feels.
Finally, according to Yamamoto, what one should do is find something that
will make one spiritually fulfilled even if it goes against the society’s conventions.
This, she claims, one will accomplish by developing one’s God-given talent.
Individualism and self-cultivation
According to Yamamoto: “Everyone is talented. This is because gods provide
all souls with a talent before they send them out into this world.”4 6 Further, one’s
talent is one’s “spiritual energy” or “the wisdom and power given to him by the
heavens.”4 7 As such, Yamamoto suggests, talent represents the strongest bond
connecting humans to the gods and is thus the key to our happiness. It is however up
to each person to discover their particular talent.
Yamamoto’s idea that a person should develop his special talent to reach
happiness in life reminds one of the role of self-improvement in the older-new
religions. According to Hardacre, one of the main elements in the world view older
new religions share is the concept that one’s destiny depends on one’s self
46 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 58, 1985, p. 185.
4 7 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 58, 1985, p. 185.
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cultivation. In other words, the individual is responsible for his actions, and needs
to cultivate certain virtues to improve his life. What these virtues are, however,
depends on the person’s age, gender, and function in various social groups. The
objective of every person’s self-cultivation is then determined within ethical restrains
held by a community he belongs to. According to Hardacre, in older-new religions
these restraints usually entail strict hierarchical relations, authority of the elders and
traditional patriarchal family model. (For instance, a husband is supposed to try to
become energetic and hardworking within the public sphere, while his wife should
try to cultivate the virtue of obedience and generally stay within the household.4 9 )
Thus, while Yamamoto and the leaders of older-new religions share the idea
of self-improvement as the determinant of man’s happiness, what distinguishes their
respective concepts is the ethical doctrine that encloses them. Unlike the older-new
religions where the concept of self-cultivation ultimately promotes ‘improve the self
for the good of the community’ motto, Yamamoto’s idea of the talent development
focuses on the individual’s personal happiness. It is a profoundly individualistic
(Western liberal) concept which calls for spiritual freedom away from the restraints
of Japanese traditional familialism. It suggests that one should develop a talent that
one innately possesses (as bestowed upon one by the gods) and which might lead one
to a life different from what one’s family or community would expect one to lead.
For instance, one can choose to pursue a calling other than one’s family business, or
4 8 Hardacre, Kurozumikyo and the New Religions o f Japan, Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1986, p. 188.
4 9 Nakayama, Shozen, “Woman’s Position Viewed by Tenrikyo,” Tenri Journal o f Religion, Vol. 3,
1963, pp. 8-10
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a career different from a career one’s parents envisioned. Similarly, a young woman
can choose to pursue a talent that will enable her to become more than a wife or a
homemaker - the roles traditionally designated for young women in Japan.
Yamamoto’s ideas of self-cultivation are clearly seen in the advice she offers
to her followers. For instance, the shaman received a letter from Mrs. Nakano
(assumed name) who was looking for advice on a problem involving her daughter.5 0
Put plainly, the issue was that the daughter was unable to find a good husband.
According to Mrs. Nakano, her daughter graduated from a junior college ten years
ago and has been working in a bank ever since. During this time she has been on
several (arranged) meetings with prospective husbands but with no luck. As is, the
daughter is frustrated with this unsuccessful search and would like to devote herself
to a new calling; she is contemplating studying to become a calligraphy teacher.
Now, Mrs. Nakano is not sure that this is a good idea and is asking for advice on the
matter.
In her reply, Yamamoto suggests that the daughter should forget about
finding a husband for a while during which time she should pursue a calling she
seems to be passionate about. Further, the shaman advises both parents to be
supportive of their daughter’s new career endeavors, and that the father in particular
should stop pressuring her into getting married. After a while, Yamamoto concludes,
developing a new talent and improving herself will help the daughter become
happier, and will enable her to find the right partner.
50 Yamamoto, Mm, N o . 62, 1986, p. 59.
76
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In the same way that Yamamoto adapted a new ‘imported’ approach to the
idea of self-cultivation, she also puts a twist on the ritual she proposes to lead one to
develop one’s talent. First, since our talent is our connection to the gods, the shaman
advises her followers to “be aware of gods three times a day.”5 1 According to
Yamamoto, the best time to connect with gods and receive power from them is after
one has just awakened. The reason is that being aware of the gods “amplifies good
sleep and purifies bad sleep.”5 2
Yamamoto’s attention to the individual’s dreams and prayers shows that
similarly to other new-new religions in Japan, Yamamoto puts an emphasis on
personal religious experience. Unlike in Buddhism and most older-new religions
where the leader functions as the moderator between gods and the believers, here
people are encouraged to address gods personally and ask for the answer to their
dilemmas.5 3 Yamamoto assures her followers that if they take their prayers directly
to gods, they will receive an answer. She writes:
“Talk to the gods whenever you have a chance. Since originally, anyone was
capable of making a direct connection with the gods, in the distant past,
everyone was like persons they now-days call miko or psychics.
Unfortunately, a long time has passed and many people gradually lost these
abilities. This is why persons like me, who still have them, are doing as much
as we can to help people.
While many people lost their abilities, the gods maintained their perfect
existence from the past. So even now, when gods communicate with people,
it is a wonderful and tmly exciting experience. This is why I advise you to
keep praying by yourselves. (Of course, when I receive an oracle I will help
5 1 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 59, 1985, p. 184.
5 2 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 59, 1985, p. 184.
5 3 Young, Serenity, Dreaming in the Lotus, Buddhist Dream Narrative, Imagery and Practice, Boston:
Wisdom Publ., 1999.
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you, and I will always provide you with necessary guidance. Still, you should
pray by yourselves.)” 5 4
While Yamamoto encourages her followers to try to communicate with gods
by themselves, in her messages in Mu, she never insists on which gods they are
supposed to pray to. This is intentional. In fact, on only one occasion does the
shaman suggest that one should worship a certain Shinto deity. However, even then
she follows by saying that it does not matter who one worships since ‘both gods and
religions were originally a single entity.”5 5 Yamamoto reiterates her idea on another
occasion while answering the following question: is it all right to pray to (or become
aware of) the god I believe in? The shaman writes:
“Can it be Christ, Buddha, Fudo Myoo (Acala) or Amaterasu Omikami? The
answer is yes - whatever your religion is and whoever your god is - there are
no heretical denominations or gods - they are all the same. All religions
originate and will return to the basic one. The ones who talk nonsense such as
that ‘according to this religion and this god people cannot not be saved’ will
soon die and go to hell where they will shed the tears of regret. It is irrelevant
as to which god you are praying to and which religion you belong to. What
people should aim at is to understand their gods well and to take faith
seriously. Again, it is not a sin and you should not have a guilty conscience if
at any point you feel necessary to change your religion or the god you pray
to. Even Kobo Daishi changed the god he worshiped in his youth. There
should be no regrets.”5 6
As shown, Yamamoto rejects sectarianism and institutions. I would suggest
that this is another characteristic of her thought which might be attributed to the
influence of Western enlightenment ideology.
5 4 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 62, 1986, p. 58.
5 5 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 56, 1985, p. 184.
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Yamamoto as the social critic/commentator
The shaman tackles a number of major social issues in post-modem Japan in
her writing in Mu, in both the generalized messages and in her advice column. In
fact, I would suggest that the letters Yamamoto replies to are always carefully
chosen to enable her to address problems young Japanese people commonly
encounter nowadays. For instance, one of the issues the shaman tackles is that of
arranged vs. love-based marriages (i.e. the issue of the proper level of family
involvement in one’s marriage decisions.)
Influenced by neo-Confucianism, the Japanese traditionally defined the value
of their lives through their relations within their families. Thus, the dilemma between
one’s feelings and one’s obligation towards one’s family has been discussed in
Japanese writings since Edo period.5 7 In Edo dramas, these sentiments can be
understood in terms of concepts of giri (obligations) and ninjo (human feelings.) Giri
refers to the obligation to act in accordance with certain moral principles, traditions
and laws. It requires the observance of reciprocal relations - to help those who
helped one, or to return the favor to those from whom the favor was once received.
In other words, giri is a particularistic, rather than universalistic norm, and this
makes it logical and realistic to follow. Accordingly, human feelings should not be in
5 6 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 59, 1985, p. 185.
5 7 The most striking examples, according to Keene, are in the plays of Chikamatsu Monzaemon;
(1653-1724;) Keene, Donald, “Characteristic Responses to Confucianism in Tokugawa Literature,” in
Peter Nosco, ed., Confucianism and Tokugawa Culture, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984,
pp. 120-122.
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ro
conflict with giri. Minamoto however, distinguishes two kinds of giri: “the first
being the natural human response to another person’s kindness, the second a “cold”
giri which is often based on the fear of what people may think or is dictated by an
awareness of obligations that have to be carried out, much though they go against
natural feelings.”5 9
In contemporary Japanese society, the second kind of giri still plays an
important role in one’s marriage decision-making process often compelling young
people to act in accordance with their parents’ rather than their own personal feelings
and beliefs. Giri for instance appears crucial in the case of Yamamoto’s advisee,
Mrs. Nakano (the lady whose daughter had problems finding a suitable husband.)
First, the daughter was pressured into a ‘husband search’ by the patriarchal idea that
a woman should marry by a certain age or else she will become a disgrace to her
family. In addition, not only did the daughter have to marry as soon as possible, but
her failure to find a suitable partner on her own made her go to several meetings
intended to lead to an arranged marriage.
Yamamoto’s response to Mrs. Nakano’s letter clearly spells out her idea that
one does not have to fulfil a family obligation if it goes against one’s personal ethics.
She advises Mrs. Nakano to stop pressuring her daughter to get married because
additional pressure may lead her into a relationship with a problematic man.
5 8 It should be only natural to help one’s family and friends.
5 9 The citation is adopted from Keene’s interpretation of Minamoto Ryoen’s study Giri to Ninjo, in
Ibid., p. 122.
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According to the shaman, if the daughter waits and takes care of herself first, she will
be “blessed with an auspicious encounter.”6 0
Yamamoto discusses the human search for love and companionship (within
or without marriage) on several other occasions in her writings. She acknowledges
the complexities that surround the dating scene in contemporary Japanese society,
and suggests that the most important elements in a relationship are that a couple truly
cares about each other and that they are prepared to go through various adversities to
be together. Her reference to Romeo and Juliet, the quintessential love/rebellion
story in European literature, once-again shows that Yamamoto places the feelings
and well being of an individual, before societal codes and conventions.6 1 In other
words, Yamamoto’s interpretation of love and marriage are quite liberal and thus
different from most older-new religions’ take on these issues. In fact, her
interpretation of love seems close to the contemporary understanding of love in the
West. (According to Bellah, love is “the idea that people must take responsibility for
deciding what they want and finding relationships that meet their needs... social
bonds can be firm only if they rest on the free, self-interested choices of individuals.”
62)
While Yamamoto calls for the freedom of love throughout her writings, when
it comes to issues of sexuality, she seems to be more conservative. At first,
Yamamoto claims that feeling sexual means being human and is thus permissible.
6 0 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 62, 1986, p. 59.
6 1 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 144,1992, p. 85.
6 2 Bellah, Robert, ed., Habits o f the Heart, Individualism and Commitment in American Life, Los
Angeles: University of California Press, 1985, pp. 108- 109.
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She points out that sex is “in the path bestowed upon us by the gods” and without it,
there would not be continuation of human race.6 3 However, the shaman also
suggests that one’s sexuality should be controlled so that it does not become deviant
or immoral. Thus, throughout her writings in Mu, she sets out the rules of sexual
conduct for her followers. First, according to Yamamoto, sex should be related to
love, romance and long-term relationships. For instance, she claims that having
strong sexuality is normal but one should wait for the right person to share it with.
Accordingly, the shaman condemns those who have multiple partners without being
in a relationship. She compares promiscuity with a thrill of shoplifting which might
feel good for a while but is immoral and wrong in the long run.
Yamamoto’s conservatism is also seen in her moral condemnation of
homosexuality. At one point she writes: “relationships between lesbians and
homosexuals can’t be called romantic... these relationships are immoral and belong
to the underworld.”6 4
Finally, Yamamoto’s discussion of human sexuality sheds some light on her
position on the issue of equality of sexes in Japan; she critiques the society which
judges promiscuous women whereas considers adultery permissible for men. The
shaman also notes that children in contemporary Japan become aware of their
sexuality too fast. She however does not seem to go beyond identifying this as a
problem.
6 3 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 145, 1992, p. 89.
6 4 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 144, 1992, p. 85.
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Another aspect of the Japanese society that Yamamoto critiques is the
educational system. She claims that many Japanese have lost their identity (the sense
of themselves) because of a school system that does not value talent and creativity
but rather pushes students to memorize and regurgitate information. According to the
shaman, “many children don’t benefit from their abilities and it is tragic that they
receive education which often hides or destroys their talent.”6 5 In addition,
Yamamoto points to one of the most serious problems Japanese schooling faces
today - the problem of ijime (or bullying.) Bullying represents one of the leading
causes of suicides among young people, and the shaman deals with it in her advice
column.
She writes to a fifteen-year old girl who has been bullied by her middle-
school classmates because of her high-pitched voice.6 6 Yamamoto gives her the
following advice: first - she needs to try and not take the bullying to her heart.
Secondly, she needs to stay in school no matter what, until she finishes her education
and is ready to support herself. Third, she needs to learn from this experience - and,
according to Yamamoto, the lesson is to try to rise above the bullies morally and
remember never to treat anyone the way she has been treated. Finally, since most of
Yamamoto’s followers are teenagers, I would suggest that her lessons in endurance
and compassion are aimed at all of them as much as the girl who wrote the letter.
Closely related to her examination of the Japanese educational system, stands
Yamamoto’s critique of Japanese hierarchical society, and her concept that persons
6 5 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 58,1985, p. 185.
6 6 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 60, 1985, p. 181.
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should not be judged by their title. According to the shaman, everyone is equal
before the gods and equally loved by them. A person’s age, sex, rank and profession
do not matter. “Spirit cannot be measured and people cannot be ranked.”6 7
The idea of everyone should be treated equally by the gods is a part of many
world religions’ doctrines. However, Yamamoto’s pointing to this equality is
especially pertinent in the Japanese society where title and family background have
traditionally functioned as the measures of one’s status.6 8
The fact is that the economic crisis of the 1990s influenced certain changes in
the modus operandi of Japanese society. However, the process of change is slow, and
in order to become respected and successful, one still needs to follow a certain life-
path - i.e. attend a certain kindergarten, followed by a certain school and a certain
college. Japan is still a society where age (or seniority) rather than personal
accomplishment often function as measurements of respect.
Thus, in her 1992 writings in Mu, Yamamoto offers a critique of the top
echelon of Japanese society, Tokyo university (Todai) graduates.6 9 Todai has always
been the stepping stone for the most successful businessmen and politicians in Japan,
and as such its graduates (and professors) are often considered role models for
Japanese youth. What Yamamoto has an issue with here is their skewed self
perception. She critiques Todai graduates’ idea that they should get preferential
6 7 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 61, 1985, p. 185.
6 8 In fact, Yamamoto brings up an issue which has been a subject of scholarly debate in Japan since
early Tokugawa period. For instance, in the late seventeenth century, Ogyu Sorai criticized the idea
that people should advance in government positions according to their family status rather than their
talent (In Najita, “Conceptual Consciousness in the Meiji Japan” in Nagai Michio and Miguel Urrutia
eds., Meiji Ishin, Restoration and Revolution, Tokyo: United Nations University, 1985.)
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treatment in life solely on the basis of the school they attended. She suggests that
respect should come from a person’s own accomplishments and personality rather
than the school he attended. To make her point more effective, the shaman offers her
own example - the example of a person bom into a family of a high social status
who leaves the life of luxury and privilege to pursue an alternative, spiritual path.
Finally, Yamamoto goes a step further from critiquing the traditional ways of
the Japanese society - to become an advocate for the ostracized by that society. In
October of 1992, the shaman dedicates most of her column to the story of Magic
Johnson’s announcement that he had AIDS.7 0 First, she debunks the social stigma
surrounding the disease by pointing that even a tall, athletic superstar could contract
the virus. In addition, her claim that Magic ‘is the face of AIDS,’ contains a double
message for her followers. To the ones stricken by the taboo disease it provides a
support mechanism, telling them not to despair, and more importantly to the healthy,
it offers a reminder not to discriminate.
Yamamoto goes so far as to say that the US ‘dream team’ won the basketball
tournament at the Olympics because of Magic’s affliction with AIDS.7 1 This idea is
clearly far-fetched, but what is not is the shaman’ message that problematic
circumstances can lead to a positive outcome if the person involved expresses the
6 9 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 144, 1992, p. 84.
70 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 143,1992, p. 146.
7 1 She based this comment on the idea that Magic’s illness miraculously united US players whose
personalities previously clashed.
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same virtues Magic did - those of “purity, optimism, profound love, passion,
sincerity and patience.”7 2
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Shinzankai, a religious movement founded by the manga creator Yamamoto
Sumika, belongs to the group of Japanese new-new religions that originated from
and are closely related to the contemporary popular culture. Coming from the secular
background, Yamamoto had to legitimize herself as a spiritual leader and her group
as a religion in a largely conservative society. The shaman did so by claiming to
have been contacted by Shinto gods and by adopting a number of rites from Shinto.
Thus, while her practices are mostly traditional, Yamamoto’s thought is syncretic - a
fusion of Shinto, Buddhism, Japanese new religions and Western enlightenment,
pasted in an original way, and coated in a language her followers can understand.
If we take a closer look, a number of characteristics of Yamamoto’s thought
and her group’s organization indicate Shinzankai to be a representative of new-new
religions. First, Yamamoto’s followers are young people mostly under the age of
twenty. In other words, similar to other new-new religions, Shinzankai is specialized
in that it caters to the teenage segment of the Japanese population. Second,
Shinzankai conveys its ideas via the mass media - i.e. comic books and magazines.
In this, Yamamoto’s advice column in Mu, (where she addresses her followers’
72 Yamamoto, Mu, No. 143, 1992, p. 146.
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questions one by one,) makes Shinzankai practice not only privatized but
individualized. (Yamamoto’s suggestion that her followers should try
communicating with gods personally further emphasizes group’s direct approach to
spiritual awakening.) Finally, as other new-new groups, what Shinzankai offers to its
followers is religious experience without the pressure of conforming to the society’s
norms.7 3 The group provides Japanese youth with a break from their tedious lives, a
new way of looking at the world, and most importantly, an ethical guide to model
their lives upon.
Conversely, two characteristics distinguish Shinzankai from other new-new
religions. First, unlike other groups’ leaders, Yamamoto experienced personal
suffering and asceticism on her way to become shaman. In addition, unlike the
somewhat pessimistic world-view shared by most other new-new religions,
Shinzankai seems to have a generally positive general outlook, including the idea
that self-cultivation, i.e. talent development alone can solve one’s problems. Thus,
interestingly enough, these are two features Yamamoto’s group shares with older-
new religions.
Finally, I would suggest that what makes Shinzankai significant for
contemporary Japanese religiosity are the elements of Western liberalism Yamamoto
carefully weaves within the Japanese spiritual framework. Three elements
specifically show the influence of Western Enlightenment religion on Yamamoto’s
thought. First, there is Yamamoto’s rejection of the institutionalism evident in her
7 3 Nishiyama, “Youth, Deprivation and New Religions: A Sociological Perspective,” p. 10.
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idea that all religions and all religious leaders in the world in fact originate from a
single spiritual entity. Second, while Japanese religious tradition, including Shinto
and older-new religions propose that one’s sense of identity should be expressed
through community identification, Yamamoto seems to be a proponent of
individualism. This I would suggest is evident in her teachings on the pursuit of
happiness - the pursuit that includes development of one’s specific god-given talent
regardless (and perhaps in spite of) of community values and norms.
Last but not least, I see the influence of Western liberalism in Yamamoto’s
gender awareness. Traced to her secular days and her “Aim for the Ace” comic,
Yamamoto’s comments in Mu, imply her liberal gender ideology. For instance, the
shaman critiques the double standard for sexually acceptable behavior in men as
opposed to women. On another occasion, she advises that it is permissible for a
woman to put the pursuit of her talent (or career) before fulfilling the societal norm
of finding a husband. Thus, Yamamoto is certainly not a radical feminist; her ideas
in fact, seem like a product of her time. To be more precise, like earlier female
founders of new religions who (while living radical lives) preached patriarchy,
Yamamoto transformed her doctrines to fit the current social trends in Japan. I would
suggest that liberalization of gender relations just happened to be one of these trends.
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Yamamoto Sumika: A new kind of living goddess in Japan
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East Asian Languages and Cultures
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