was the Japanese founder of the "dancing religion",

Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō (Japanese language, Japanese ) is a Japanese new religious movement which emerged from Shinto. The movement began activities in 1945, and reportedly includes 450,000 members. It was established by Sayo Kitamura () (190 ...

(天照皇大神宮教).

Early life

Kitamura was born on January 1, 1900, in what is now Yanai city, Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan. She was the fourth daughter in a farming family of Jodo Shinshu Buddhists. She married in November 1920 and moved to

Tabuse 270px, Umashima is a town located in Kumage District, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 14,411 in 6947 households and a population density of 290 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography ...

, Yamaguchi to be with her husband.

Career

In July 1942, a barn on the Kitamura property burned down. Blaming herself for the incident, Kitamura began visiting a

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

. On May 4, 1944, Kitamura was possessed by a spirit, which was later said to be Tensho Kotaijin. She had her first sermon on July 22, 1945, during which she preached she had been sent to save the world, because it was about to end. She said that people should become "true human beings" in order to create a peaceful "land of god", and that Japan's defeat in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was just the prelude to a battle between good and evil. Her sermons included singing and dances of "non-ego", which earned the group the nickname "the dancing religion". In 1946, she incorporated the sect as the Tensho Kotai Jingu Kyo. Her son, Yoshito, performed the administrative functions of the new religion. As the religion became more established, she became more critical of politicians, the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

, and other people in power, calling them "maggots". She gained much negative media attention, which she successfully used to publicize her group and gain followers. In 1952, Kitamura went on a mission trip to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Her first overseas branch was in

Kalihi Kalihi is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, United States. Split by Likelike Highway (Route 63), it is flanked by Liliha, Chinatown, and Downtown Honolulu to the east and Mapunapuna, Moanalua, and Salt Lake t ...

, Hawaii. Soon, more branches were formed throughout the world, including in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. She eventually had over 300,000 followers. Kitamura died in her home on December 28, 1967. In 1968, her granddaughter, Kitamura Kiyokazu, became head of the religion.

References

1967 deaths 1900 births People from Yamaguchi Prefecture Founders of new religious movements Japanese religious leaders Female religious leaders Deified Japanese women {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitamura, Sayo