Encyclopedia of Shinto

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カテゴリー1： 8. Schools, Groups, and Personalities
カテゴリー2： Personalities
Title
Tomokiyo Yoshisane
Text
Founder of Shintō Tenkōkyo. His original name was Kyūgo, and epistolary names included Tenkō, Mokusan, Joyō, and Banzan. Tomokiyo was born on October 9, 1888, in what is today Yamaguchi City, and reports state that at the age of eleven, he had the experience of kamikakushi, namely, being spirited away from home. In his late twenties, Tomokiyo was fervently involved in political movements, to the point of being arrested by the police several times. But he was so driven to desperation by futile political activity that he climbed Mount Bandai in 1917 seeking religious awakening, and there he received inspiration and experienced conversion on the mountaintop in the form of a thunderstorm.
Tomokiyo subsequently studied a variety of religions, including esoteric Buddhism (Mikkyō), and Taireidō (Great Spirit Way), finally to enter the religious organization Ōmoto in 1918. The following year, however, he grew disappointed and left the organization, then published a pamphlet titled Kenkon itteki in which he fiercely attacked the group. He also published Chinkon kishin no Genri oyobi ōyō. In order to learn the orthodox form of Honda reigaku (Honda "Spirit Studies," the techniques of Honda Chika'atsu's (1823-89) that had served as the foundation for Ōmoto's doctrine), Tomokiyo visited Nagasawa Katsutate in Shizuoka Prefecture. In 1920, Tomokiyo founded Kakushinkai, the precursor of Shintō Tenkōkyo. In 1927, he received a revelation at Mount Iwaki, located in Kumage District of Yamaguchi Prefecture, and upon that founded Shintō Tenkōkyo. He retired as its leader in 1931 to remain in his residence till his death on February 15, 1952, at the age of sixty-five. His writings are numerous, and include Reigaku sentei and Tenkō shōkyo yawa; most are contained in the two versions of his collected works Tomokiyo Yoshisane zenshū.

—Tsushiro Hirofumi

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