Tag Archives: conversion story

The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 30

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The following is a translation of Part 30 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the June 2005 (No. 438) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.

Part 30: “I Accept the Mind You Have Settled”

Rin Masui was raised as the only child of prestigious household in Kawachi. She married a man who was adopted into her family and was blessed with children. She lived a happy life free from worries and misfortune. However, in the year she turned 30, she was at a loss of having to look after her three children alone after both her father and husband suddenly passed away. She herself succumbed to an eye disease known as sokohi1 and completely lost her vision.

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  1. Sokohi appears to have been used to refer to a number of eye ailments, leading to a lack of consensus in the translations from Anecdotes of Oyasama (whose 200 selections were divided and translated by several people). Sokohi has been variously rendered in the English Anecdotes as “amaurosis” (24, p. 17); “glaucoma” (36, p. 29); “cataracts” (115, p. 96); and simply “eye disease” (145 , p. 117). ↩

The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 28

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The following is a translation of Part 28 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the April 2005 (No. 436) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.

Part 28: “I Resolve to Implement the Spirit of Single-Hearted Salvation”

Kichitaro Matsumura of Byodoji Village, Osaka, loathed anything that defied reason. He found the rough, uncultured behavior of the followers around him distasteful and secretly ridiculed those who had faith. While his parents and younger brother were devout followers of Tenrikyo, Kichitaro’s attitude grew colder as their devotion grew deeper. His mother Saku told him over and over: “When you were younger, you always played near Oyasama each time we returned to Jiba. She even held and carried you on one occasion.” Nevertheless, Kichitaro could not bring himself to accept the faith. Continue reading The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 28 →

The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 25

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The following is a translation of Part 25 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the January 2005 (No. 433) issue of Taimo, p. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.

Part 25: Under the Same Roof; On the Same Dirt Floor

Circa 1894, five Tenrikyo missionaries in their late 20s found a place in Hirosaki from where they went out to sprinkle the fragrance of the teachings day and night. In time, they sprinkled the fragrance of the teachings to Iwanosuke Jin 神石之助, who they had met at the entrance of Hirosaki Hospital. Continue reading The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 25 →

The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 24

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The following is a translation of Part 24 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the December 2004 (No. 432) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.

Part 24: “Destined to Be Saved”

Kozaburo Murakami was born in a rich farming household in Izumi Province and was known for his honesty and his strict, hard-working nature. He was trusted by the people around him as a reliable man who never refused his assistance.

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The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 19

Footsteps of Our Predecessors, Translations,

The following is a translation of Part 19 the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the July 2004 (No. 427) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further polishing and revision.

Part 19: “You Are Able to Eat Food Because of Tsuki-Hi”

The following story occurred circa the summer of 1884. A confraternity head (komoto 講元) from Kyoto brought a certain person to worship at Jiba. It was this person’s first pilgrimage returning to Jiba. A cholera epidemic happened to be raging in Kyoto at the time and he went to Jiba with the thought that there would be no harm in praying [for good health].

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The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 12

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The following is a translation of Part 12 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the December 2003 (No. 420) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is tentative and may require further revision.

Part 12: “God Has Twice the Strength”

Kunisaburo Moroi was absorbed in running a textile factory in Hiro’oka Village, Yamana County in Totomi Province (currently Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture), from overseeing the raising of silkworms to the production of silk thread. In February 1883, his third daughter Koshi (two years old1) contracted a throat ailment and her condition became critical.

With no option at hand, Kunisaburo’s wife Sono, feeling that only faith in “Tenri-O-sama” would save Koshi, discarded her human thinking and made an earnest petition with her husband as follows: “All praise to Tenri-O-no-Mikoto. We shall singly devote ourselves to the faith as husband and wife. Please save our baby from her illness.”

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  1. The ages of individuals that appear in this article are according to the traditional manner of counting age in Japan (i.e., kazoe-doshi). A person is considered a year old at birth and ages accordingly with the arrival of each New Year. ↩

The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 10

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The following is a translation of Part 10 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the October 2003 (No. 418) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is tentative and may require further revision.

Part 10: “I Accept One Day as A Thousand Days”

In 1883, plasterer and head of Meishin-gumi Confraternity, Shirobei Umetani, stayed several days at the Residence and poured his heart and soul into the final touchups during the construction of Oyasama’s Resting House. The Resting House was completed in mid-November.

Oyasama waited for the proper time before making Her move from the South Gatehouse into the newly built Resting House that still emitted the fragrance of fresh timber. At midnight on November 25 (or 10/26 according to the lunar calendar), followers of confraternities such as Meishin-gumi and Shinmei-gumi held paper lanterns bearing the names of their confraternities and welcomed Her when She made Her move. Shirobei received a set of Oyasama’s red clothes the following day.

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The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 6

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The following is a translation of Part 6 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the June 2003 (No. 414) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. Note: This translation may require further polishing and revision.

Part 6: “Suit Yourself!”

There was a great cholera epidemic in the Kinki Region of Japan in the early autumn of 1886. It was a contagious disease that was deeply feared by the populace since there was no appropriate treatment for it at the time.
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The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 4

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The following is a translation of Part 4 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the April 2003 (No. 412) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35.

Part 4: The Conversion of Tokichi Izumita (1 of 2)

Tokichi Izumita (also known as Kumakichi, literally “Lucky Bear”) went to Jiba to worship in the 2nd lunar month of 1871 on his way home from seeing the water-drawing ceremony at Nigatsudo in Nara.

While he was impressed with the teachings as conveyed to him by Ryosuke Yamazawa, he did not make the faith a part of his daily life at the time. However, circa the summer of 1877, his son became sick and he himself was suffering from stomach cancer. Ihei Yamamoto came to visit and recommend him to have faith in God. Ihei also gave Tokichi Izumita the following instruction, before offering his prayer, “What you love is your enemy, you must quit what you love.”

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The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 3

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The following is a translation of Part 3 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the March 2003 (No. 411) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35.

Part 3: “I Placed a Bridge That Leads Eight Hundred Kilometers Ahead”

In April 1880, Osaka Prefecture recruited Chuzaburo Koda and dispatched him to the Niigata Prefecture Agricultural Experiment Station and put him in charge to oversee its tilling and cultivation activities. He was 54 at the time. He left for Niigata on a one-year contract and returned to his home province of Yamato on his year-end vacation. During this time his second daughter Riki had contracted an eye disease and it was considered only a matter of time before she lost her eyesight.

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