Encyclopedia of Shinto

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カテゴリー1： 8. Schools, Groups, and Personalities
カテゴリー2： Modern Sectarian Groups
Title
Tenchikyō
Text
The founder of this group, Uozumi Masanobu (1852-1928), was born into the Maruo family, a farming family in Hyogo Prefecture. He became a household servant in Kobe, but he became seriously ill, and was healed by Shirakami Shin'ichirō (the first-generation person of that name), who was a senior disciple of Konkōkyō founder Konkō Daijin (aka Kawate Bunjirō). As a result, he joined Konkōkyō. After this, he worked as a fresh fish merchant, was adopted into the Uozumi family, and while running his business, also engaged in proselytizing activities. In 1888 he became a religious instructor in Konkōkyō and the following year established a branch of the Shintō Konkō Kyōkai (church) in Himeji. Repeated conflicts broke out, however, between Kondō Fujimori, one of Konkō Daijin's senior disciples, and the second-generation Shirakami Shintarō regarding issues of proselytization, thus interrupting Uozumi's activities.
At Shirakami's request, Uozumi began proselytizing in Tokyo in 1893, and submitted a request for permission to set up a preaching center there. As a result, however, he was dismissed from his position by Kondō, who was in charge of the movement's proselytizing activities. Consequently, after consulting Shirakami, Uozumi decided to quit the Shintō Konkōkyōkai in 1894, taking with him ten other teachers who had been his disciples, and thus established the Tenchi Kyōkai as an affiliate of the umbrella movement Taiseikyō.
The movement's central object of worship (see saijin) was called Tenchi ōkami ("great deity of heaven and earth"). The movement based its teachings in the text the Omichi annai (Guide to the Way) by the first generation Shirakami Shintarō, and in the Shinkai jūnikajō —makoko no michi no kokoroe (The 12 Articles Ordained by the Kami: The Rules of the True Way), which was the text of cardinal doctrines setting out the core teachings of Konkō Kyōkai at that time.
In 1897 the movement became affiliated with the group Shinrikyō, and in 1900 moved its headquarters to its current location. It expanded its activities, developing ten teaching centers throughout the country. Uozumi died in 1928. In 1946 Tenchikyō became an independent group registered under the Religious Corporations Ordinance (Shūkyō Hōjinrei), but even today, the group's former association with Konkōkyō is reflected in the occasional names used to refer to it, such as iso no Konkōkyō ("Konkōkyō from along the coast"), or Konkō-sama ("honorable Konkō"). It has lost membership strength in the postwar era, however.
Headquarters: Hyōgo Prefecture
Nominal membership: approximately 1,000 (M)

—Fukushima Shinkichi

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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