Nakayama Shōzen (中山正善, April 23, 1905 – November 14, 1967) was the second

Shinbashira The shinbashira (心柱, also 真柱 or 刹/擦 ''satsu'') refers to a central pillar at the core of a pagoda or similar structure. The shinbashira has long been thought to be the key to the Japanese pagoda's notable earthquake resistance, when ne ...

of Tenrikyo. He was the first son of

Nakayama Shinnosuke Nakayama Shinnosuke (中山眞之亮, June 19, 1866 – December 31, 1914) was the first Shinbashira of Tenrikyo. He was the grandson of Nakayama Miki, the foundress of Tenrikyo. Biography According to Tenrikyo tradition, Nakayama Miki named ...

, the first Shinbashira, and the great-grandson of Nakayama Miki, the foundress of Tenrikyo.

Biography

Nakayama Shōzen was born on April 23, 1905, in what is now Tenri,

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He was born to parents Nakayama Shinnosuke and Tamae. On January 21, 1915, at the age of ten, Shōzen was installed as the Shinbashira. However, due to Nakayama's young age, the duties of the office were conducted by Yamazawa Tamenobu. In 1923, Shōzen entered Osaka High School. In 1925, he founded the Tenri Foreign Language School, the predecessor to Tenri University, and installed as its principal. Later in the same year, he assumed all of the responsibilities of the Shinbashira office. In 1926, Shōzen graduated from Osaka High School and entered the religious studies department at University of Tokyo. The department chair at the time was Prof.

Anesaki Masaharu , also known under his pen name , was a leading Japanese intellectual and scholar of the Meiji period. Anesaki is credited as being the father of religious studies in Japan, but also wrote on a variety of subjects including culture, literature, an ...

, who today is considered the father of religious studies in Japan. Shōzen's graduation thesis, titled "On Missionary Work" (伝道について ''Dendō ni tsuite''), was an analysis of questionnaire results that were solicited from Tenrikyo church head ministers and missionaries regarding the state of Tenrikyo's missionary activities at the time. His thesis was later edited and published by

Tenrikyo Doyusha Tenrikyo Doyusha (天理教道友社 ''Tenrikyō Dōyūsha'') is the official publisher of Tenrikyo Church Headquarters, disseminating news, information, and doctrinal materials related to Tenrikyo. History Tenrikyo Doyusha was founded on August ...

as ''Tenrikyō dendōsha ni kansuru chōsa'' in 1930. He graduated from University of Tokyo in 1929.''Purification: Religious Transformations of Body and Mind,'' 4.

Selected writings

*『神』『月日』及び『をや』について oncerning "Kami," "Tsukihi," and "Oya"(1935) *おふでさきに現れた親心 arental Heart Revealed in the Ofudesaki(1955)

Biography

Selected writings

References

Further reading