Ananaikyō

is a Shinto-based (Japanese new religion) derived from Oomoto. Ananaikyo was established by on April 1949 in Shimizu, Shizuoka. It is currently headquartered in Yokosuka in Kakegawa, Shizuoka.

History

The religion's founder was 1887–1974), who was originally an Oomoto practitioner. Nakano was influenced by Shinto priest and spirit medium (1822–1889) and Honda's disciple (1858–1940). Honda and Nagasawa taught a type of meditation (and/or spirit possession) practice known as (), which is also practiced in Shintō Tenkōkyo and Oomoto.

On April 4, 1949, Nakano founded Ananaikyo in Shimizu, Shizuoka. Ananaikyo's original headquarters in Shimizu was located less than 100 meters from (note that has the reading "Yamanashi"), the Shinto shrine where Nagasawa Katsutate had spent most of life practicing at.

World Religion Congress

During the mid-1950s, Ananaikyo held a series of World Religion Congress meetings at its headquarters in Shimizu, Shizuoka. Reports were published for each of the eight congresses from 1954 to 1956.

*1st–3rd World Religion Congresses – 1954
*4th–6th World Religion Congresses – 1955
*7th–8th World Religion Congresses – 1956

Shin Negami (根上 信; 1897–1969) was the president of the during the mid-1950s when the congresses were held.

1960s–present

Beginning in the 1960s, Nakano started to focus more on the international development NGO that he had founded, . After his death in 1974, his adopted daughter Nakano Yoshiko (中野良子, born 1933) became the religious leader of Ananaikyo. Nakano Yoshiko resigned in 1982 to focus on being President of OISCA International. In May 1983, Nakano Masamiya (中野正宫, born 1950) became Ananaikyo's third religious leader. Since the 1980s, Ananaikyo has not regained the international prominence that it had once enjoyed during the 1950s and 1960s, partly because the religion's leaders, who had become highly involved with the non-religious NGO OISCA International, did not want OISCA to be publicly associated with a religion and thereby potentially harming the NGO's reputation. As a result, Ananaikyo leaders stopped organizing international events and restricted ''chinkon kishin'' for experienced members only, whereas in the past the general public could openly participate in Ananaikyo's ''chinkon kishin''.

During the 21st century, Ananaikyo moved its headquarters from Shimizu, Shizuoka to the Yokosuka area of Kakegawa, Shizuoka.

Spiritual lineage

Ananaikyo's (or ) lineage is as follows. Each successor would continue the teachings of his or her teacher after the teacher's death or resignation.

# (1822–1889)
# (1858–1940)
# (1887–1974)
# (born 1933)
# (born 1950)

Honda Chikaatsu.jpg, Honda Chikaatsu
Nagasawa Katsutate portrait.jpg, Nagasawa Katsutate
Yonosuke Nakano and Mount Fuji - cropped.jpg, Nakano Yonosuke

Beliefs and practices

Ananaikyo's teachings, practices, and texts closely resemble those of Oomoto. The supreme God of the universe in Ananaikyo is known as the , or .

The name ''Ananaikyo'', along with its corresponding kanji gloss , originates from Oomoto. Numerous passages in the ''Reikai Monogatari'', written during the 1920s and 1930s by Onisaburo Deguchi, use ''Ananaikyo'' () to refer to the Oomoto religion. The term ''ananai'' refers to a thick rope that is attached to the bell of a '' haiden'' (worship hall of a Shinto shrine).

The kanji characters used to represent the name ''Ananaikyo'' (三五教) literally mean "three ndfive religion", with "three" representing the triad of the sun, moon, and stars, and "five" representing the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Thus, "three and five" represent the teachings of both heaven and earth. The "three" (三) in Ananaikyo (三五教) can also symbolize the three new religions that Ananaikyo was influenced by, namely Oomoto, Guiyidao, and the Baháʼí Faith, while "five" (五) refers to five established world religions, namely Buddhism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Nakano's familiarity with Guiyidao and the Baháʼí Faith comes from his time as an Oomoto follower before World War II, when Oomoto leader Onisaburo Deguchi had frequent contact with the two religions during the 1920s and 1930s.

Like Oomoto, Ananaikyo considers all world religions to be of the same divine origin. Young (1988) reported that Ananaikyo's main worship hall in Shizuoka gave recognition to Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Shinto.

Ananaikyo does not preach any worldly benefits, but rather places an emphasis on harmony with nature. The main scripture of Ananaikyo is , which consists of 13 volumes.

The main deities revered are:

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

In Ananaikyo, a type of meditation called ''chinkon kishin'' (鎮魂帰神), also known simply as ''chinkon'' (), is practiced. ''Chinkon kishin'' was originally practiced in Oomoto, and is restricted to Ananaikyo followers who have been members for at least three years.

A ''chinkon'' stone is required to perform ''chinkon kishin'' in Ananaikyo. The ''chinkon'' stone must be a small, spherical black stone collected at Shimizu's , from which a forested ''sandō'' leads to where Nagasawa had been a head priest at. Finding a suitable stone can often take several hours, and the search is supervised by an Ananaikyo senior member.

Observatories

Unusually for a Shinto-derived religion, Ananaikyo is known for building several astronomical observatories in Japan, since Ananaikyo states that . In 1957, an observatory was built on in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture but was later demolished in 1973 due to opposition against the new religion from locals. Other observatories built by Ananaikyo, many of which are now defunct, include:

* in Kannami, Tagata District, Shizuoka Prefecture
* in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture
* in Chikugo, Fukuoka Prefecture (established in November 1957, renamed in January 1958, closed in 1992)
* in Tokushima (established in March 1958, closed in 1968)
* in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture (established in April 1958, closed in 1991)
* in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture (established in November 1958, closed in 1991)
* in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture (established in February 1959; demolished in 1996)
* in Yamaga, Kumamoto Prefecture (established in 1960; demolished in 1983)
* in Okaya, Nagano Prefecture (established in 1963; still standing as of 2015 but not open to the public)

Publications

Japanese-language publications by Yonosuke Nakano include:

*三五の教義 (1954) ("Doctrine of Ananaikyo")
*産業の宗教 (1963) ("Religion of Industry")
*人類完成の歓び (1965) ("The Joy of Human Perfection")
*霊観した幽界 (1965) ("Spiritual Observation of the Hidden World")
*世界救済の大道 (1965) ("The Way to World Salvation")
*日本人の和を願う (1972) ("Wishing for Harmony among the Japanese people")

''Reikai-de Mita Uchū''

The ''Reikai-de Mita Uchū'' 霊界で観た宇宙 is a series of 13 volumes published by Yonosuke Nakano from 1965 to 1967. The first few volumes were also published in the 1950s. Occasionally, some volumes in the series are also titled ''Reikai-kara Mita Uchū'' 霊界から見た宇宙. The volumes in the series are:

*霊界から見た宇宙 (1965) – Volumes 1–4: The Universe as Seen from the Spirit World
*天文 (1966) – Volume 5: Astronomy
*本命の宗教 (1966) – Volume 6: The Foremost Religion
*霊・神・人 (1966) – Volume 7: Spirit, God, Humanity
*金木・菅曽・太祝詞 (1966) – Volume 8: Prayers
*精神産業と産業精 (1966) – Volume 9: Religion and Industrial Spirit
*高天原に神留坐す (1966) – Volume 10: God in Heaven
*霊学・霊智霊覚・神人合一 (1967) – Volume 11: Spiritual science, spiritual wisdom, spiritual awareness, union of God with humanity
*人類の繁栄と平和への道 : 精神と知識科学 (1967) – Volume 12: The path to human prosperity and peace: Mind and science of knowledge
*大教育・精神教化 (1967) – Volume 13: The Great Education, Spiritual Education

English translations

A few of Nakano's books have been translated into English:

*
*
*''The Ananai: A Journal for Truth Seekers'' (1956–1959) (in Japanese: あなない : 宗教法人三五教機関誌)
*''Religion and Industrial Spirit'' (English translation of the 1966 book 精神産業と産業精, which is Volume 9 of 霊界で観た宇宙)

See also

*Shinto sects and schools
*Shintō Tenkōkyo

References

External links

*

{{Coord, 34, 41, 25, N, 137, 58, 41, E, type:landmark_region:JA, display=title

Japanese new religions
Religious organizations based in Japan
Shinto new religious movements
Religious organizations established in 1949
1949 establishments in Japan
Organizations based in Shizuoka Prefecture
Kakegawa, Shizuoka
Astronomy in Japan
Religions derived from Oomoto
Shimizu, Shizuoka