Monday, June 22, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
East Asia
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Texts
Agonshū — The Way of the ĀgamaAn ethnographic introduction to Agonshū (阿含宗) — the Japanese new religion founded by Kiriyama Seiyū in 1978, which claims to restore the original Buddhism of the Āgama sutras, combines early Buddhist scripturalism with spectacular esoteric fire rituals, and possesses a relic of the Buddha presented by the President of Sri Lanka.Byakkō Shinkōkai — The Way of the White LightAn ethnographic introduction to Byakkō Shinkōkai (白光真宏会), the Japanese new religion founded in 1955 by Goi Masahisa — built around the prayer 'May Peace Prevail on Earth,' the theology of guardian spirits, and the conviction that the human being is, in essence, a divine spirit temporarily wearing a body.Kurozumikyō — The Way of the Living SunAn ethnographic introduction to Kurozumikyō (黒住教), the Japanese new religion founded in 1814 by Kurozumi Munetada after a mystical experience of complete union with Amaterasu Ōmikami — historically the very first of the Shinto-derived new religions, predating even Tenrikyō by twenty-four years, built around the theology of direct divine union (tenmei jikiju), daily solar worship, faith healing, and a radical sincerity ethic that transformed a dying Shinto priest into the founder of a tradition that persists two centuries later.Nipponzan-Myōhōji — The Way of the Peace PagodaAn ethnographic introduction to Nipponzan-Myōhōji (日本山妙法寺), the Nichiren Buddhist order founded by Nichidatsu Fujii in 1917 — a monastic community that has built over eighty peace pagodas across the world, dedicated to the abolition of nuclear weapons and the transformation of human consciousness through the chanting of the Lotus Sutra.PL Kyōdan — The Way of Perfect LibertyAn ethnographic introduction to PL Kyōdan (パーフェクト リバティー教団, Church of Perfect Liberty), the Japanese new religious movement founded in 1946 by Tokuchika Miki — heir to the suppressed Hito-no-Michi movement — whose central claim, that Life is Art and every human being is a work of God's self-expression, constitutes one of the most distinctive theological moves in the history of modern Japanese religion.Reiyūkai — The Society of Spiritual FriendsAn ethnographic introduction to Reiyūkai (霊友会), the Japanese new religion founded in 1930 by Kubo Kakutarō and Kotani Kimi — a Nichiren-derived lay movement built on ancestor veneration and recitation of the Lotus Sutra, which became one of the most important parent organizations in the Japanese new religions landscape, spawning Risshō Kōseikai and several other major movements.Risshō Kōseikai — The Way of Righteous CommunityAn ethnographic introduction to Risshō Kōseikai (立正佼成会), the Japanese Buddhist new religion founded in 1938 by Nikkyo Niwano and Myoko Naganuma — a lay movement centered on the Lotus Sutra, the practice of dharma-seat group counseling (hōza), and one of the most ambitious interfaith programs in modern religious history.Tenshō Kōtai Jingū-Kyō — The Dancing ReligionAn ethnographic introduction to Tenshō Kōtai Jingū-Kyō (天照皇大神宮教), the Japanese new religion founded in 1945 by Kitamura Sayo — a farmer's wife who declared herself possessed by the deity of the Ise Grand Shrine and built a confrontational, ecstatic religious movement around the practice of selfless dance and the denunciation of established religion.