Tag Archives: Miyamori Yosaburo

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 131

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama, ,

131. On the Side of God (Japanese title: Kami no hō ni wa)

Oyasama said to Naokichi Takai, Yosaburo Miyamori, and others who worked at the Residence:


“Let’s have a contest of strength,”


extending Her arm. She said:


“Press down as hard as you can.”


However, not only were they unable to force Her hand down, but when Oyasama used just a little of Her strength and grasped Her opponent’s arm, his arm became numb and lost all strength. Then Oyasama said:


“Twice as much strength is on the side of God.”


Further, She said:


“Can you do this?”


pinching the skin on the back of a young man’s hand with Her forefinger and her little finger. The skin was pinched so hard that it was very painful and it turned black and blue afterward.

On another occasion, She put Her hands together in perfect prayer position in the middle of Her back as we do in front of our chest.

These are Miyamori’s reminiscences.

Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 107-108

Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 131 →

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 83

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama, ,

83. Many, Many Years

Yosaburo Miyamori received an urgent call from Oyasama while he was working in the rice fields of the Residence. It was so unexpected that he wondered what it was all about. He hurried to Oyasama in his work clothes. Oyasama bestowed the sazuke on him then and there.

“Thank you for having worked these many, many years,”

were the words given to him by Oyasama in appreciation.

Note: It was in May 1881 that Yosaburo Miyamori was granted the sazuke.

Anecdotes of Oyasama, p. 69

Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 83 →

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 69

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama, ,

69. Prefer the Younger Brother

About 1879 or 1880 when he was drawn to the Residence, Yosaburo Miyamori received Oyasama’s words:

“A superfluous man with a pure heart is wanted.”

Yosaburo was the third son among nine children in his family. It did not matter whether he was at home or not. As far as the family was concerned, he was a “superfluous” man. He was by nature very obedient, honest, not greedy, and especially, was said to be a kind of person who could always accept any situation with joy. It is believed that for these reasons he was called a man with a pure heart by Oyasama.

Again, in about 1881, when Tamezo Yamazawa was sitting beside Oyasama, She said:

“Tamezo, you are the younger brother. God is saying, ‘Even more do I desire the younger brother.'”

Anecdotes of Oyasama, p. 60

Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 69 →

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 40

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama, ,

40. Stay Here

The year was 1874. Yonosuke Okada (later known as Yosaburo Miyamori), at the age of eighteen, had a severe pain in his arm. He visited this and that doctor but the pain did not ease at all. He leaned against the bedding and suffered day and night. Looking at his suffering, Wasa, his married sister from Miwa, conveyed the teachings to him, suggesting, “Why don’t you try to go to Shoyashiki?”

Yonosuke had heard about the living god of Shoyashiki before, but at this time he decided to return to the Residence. When he had an audience with Oyasama, She said to him:

“Yonosuke, welcome home.”

Upon receiving these words, the pain in his arm instantly stopped. He spent all that day at the Residence and went back to Higai Village that night.

However, when he returned home, he began to feel pain in his arm again. He waited impatiently for daybreak and returned to the Residence. Then, incredibly, the pain in his arm stopped.

These same events occurred repeatedly and during three years he returned to the Residence almost every day. Toward the end of this period, Oyasama said gently:

“Yonosuke, stay here.”

And so, in accord with Her words, he stayed at the Residence and helped with the work there. He remained there because unless he did so, the pain in his arm would return.

It was in this way that Yonosuke began to work at the Residence.

Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 34–35 Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 40 →

The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 66

Footsteps of Our Predecessors, Translations, ,

The following is a translation of Part 66 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the June 2008 (No. 474) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.

Part 66: Prepared to Risk His Life

“I will do it.”

Yosaburo Miyamori was prepared to risk his life.

In September 1880, police surveillance over the Residence became increasingly severe and it troubled Shuji very much. Out of his desire to allow followers to perform the Service in the open and prevent Oyasama sentenced to police detention, Shuji decided to create a religious fraternity named the Tenrin-O-Kosha affiliated with the temple Jifukuji located on Mt. Kongo.
Continue reading The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 66 →

Anecdotes of the Honseki Izo Iburi 23

Honseki: Anecdotes, Translations, ,

23. A Command to Stop Working in the Fields

It is written that between 1882 and 1887 Izo did farming and forestry work and for these five years, he never had the luxury to sit and relax at a meal but ate his meals standing near the oven. But according to Yosaburo Miyamori (1857–1936):

“The Residence was not a busy place as it is now. So when Izo first moved to Jiba, it was not like he had a set schedule of tasks to do each day. He would help out when we went out into the fields. He also helped to dig ditches and plow the rice fields.

Continue reading Anecdotes of the Honseki Izo Iburi 23 →

“Please Allow Me”

Tenrikyo Fundamentals, Translations, ,

The following is an excerpt from Omichi no joshiki [Tenrikyo Fundamentals] (pp. 15–18) by Koji Sato 佐藤浩司, assistant professor at Tenri University and instructor at Tenri Seminary. Note: This translation is tentative and may require further revision.

“Please Allow Me”

Yosaburo Miyamori 宮森与三郎 joined the faith because of a pain in his arm. Because the pain would recur when he went home and would mysteriously disappear whenever he visited Oyasama, he began to live at the Residence when he was 23 years old. When Yosaburo returned to the Residence for the first time, Oyasama said, “I want a superfluous person with a good heart.”1
Continue reading “Please Allow Me” →

  1. Compare this quote from a similar one from Anecdotes of Oyasama 69: “A superfluous man with a pure heart is wanted.” ↩

The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 3

Footsteps of Our Predecessors, Translations, , ,

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.

Continue reading The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 3 →