Hirayama Seisai (1815–1890) was a Japanese samurai and Shinto priest during the late Edo period and early Meiji era. He was born in Mitsu, Fukushima, and at the age of 20, traveled to Edo (now Tokyo) to study Chinese literature,

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japanes ...

, and other subjects. In 1850, he became the adopted son of a government official and inherited his position. During the late

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, he served as a close advisor to the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

as a senior vassal. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, he briefly retired from public life, but later became a Shinto priest and held various positions at shrines in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

and

Miyagi Miyagi may refer to: Places * Miyagi Prefecture, one of the 47 major divisions of Japan * Miyagi, Gunma, a village in Japan, merged into Maebashi in 2004 *Miyagi District, Miyagi, a district in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan Other uses * Miyagi (surna ...

. In 1872, he founded the Shinto Taisei sect and served as its first head, he rallied for independence as a

Shinto Sect , the folk religion of Japan, developed a diversity of schools and sects, outbranching from the original Ko-Shintō (ancient Shintō) since Buddhism was introduced into Japan in the sixth century. Early period schools and groups The main Shinto ...

in 1879, and gained it in 1882.井上順孝『教派神道の形成』（弘文堂　1991年）朝日日本歴史人物事典（朝日新聞出版） During his tenure as president Mitake-kyo also gained independence He died on May 22, 1890. His writings include "The Truth of Our Sect" and "The True Method of Cultivating the Way."

References

{{Authority control Japanese Shintoists Kannushi Shinto new religious movements Samurai 1815 births 1890 deaths