Serendipitiously, a Koki manuscript written by Ihachiro Yamada was recently made available online so I went ahead and translated it.1 Continue reading Yamada Koki manuscript
- A Japanese text can also be found in 敷島大教会資料集成部『山田伊八郎文書』. ↩
Tag Archives: Yamada Ihachiro
Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 185
185. You Do Not Know Where I Work (doko i hataraki ni)
On March 12, 1886, Chushichi Yamanaka and Ihachiro Yamada returned to the Residence together. Oyasama would stay in bed for most part of the day ever since She returned from the Ichinomoto Branch Police Station. When they said to Her that they had returned, Oyasama gave them these words:
“No one knows where I intend to work. If I am awake, it may hinder My work. So I will sleep until I wake up by myself. Do never think that I have grown weak or that I am losing strength.
Now, I will prove this with my fingers. Anyone can poke with one’s fingers. But, see the strength of My fingers with which I pick things up, and consider for yourselves.”
She pinched the hands of the two persons at the same time, and Her fingers were so powerful that their hands hurt very much. They were amazed. She went on to give them the following words:
“Would anyone who is too old to turn over in bed have as much strength as I?
To live to be two hundred or three hundred years old without becoming ill or feeble—would not the joy of man be great? If children were never to suffer from measles or smallpox? If there were no diseases of the head? If an are could yield fifty-six or seventy kilograms of rice? For all these things, God hastens.
Oh, how I regret that the authorities have stopped Me again and again. I cannot help but clear away My regret.
In this world, there is nothing at all for which God does not care or work. There is no knowing what you will hear, or when, or where. I tell you that you must be convinced that whatever you hear, it is the working of Tsukihi. Tell it to those who have sincere minds.
Now is like a time when farmers sow their seedbeds. If you sow the field with unhulled rice, the rice will all sprout in due time. It is just like that.”
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 145–146
Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 164
164. Deep Affection (kawaii ippai)
The following is from the notes of the words of Oyasama as recorded by Ihachiro Yamada on March 28, 1885:
“You say ‘God’ and wonder where God is. God is within the body. Then again there is no discrimination between those within the path and those without; that is, the people of the whole world are all children of God. Think of everything in terms of your own child. Everything is solely from deep affection.
A farmer prays for a rich harvest; God considers how best to do this.
Again, only if the mind of man is accepted, God will exert the utmost strength to protect man forever.”
Anecdotes of Oyasama, p. 131
Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 101
101. Do Not Stop on the Way
In the spring of 1882, Koiso Yamada, who was expecting a baby, returned to Jiba. Oyasama told her:
“This time, it is a test. When you come back to Jiba after childbirth, do not stop at Mamekoshi (where Koiso’s parents, the Yamanakas, lived), or at any other place. Come straight to this place. This is the true parental home.”
At eight in the morning of May 10th, while the rest of the family were out in the fields, Koiso suddenly felt labor pains. It was so sudden that she only had time to take off her apron and place it on the tatami-mat to lie upon as she gave birth to a chubby girl. It was a wondrously easy and clean delivery followed only by the afterbirth. When the family returned home for lunch, the baby, newly-clothed, was already in bed.
The husband and wife, as instructed by Oyasama, returned straight to Jiba two days after the childbirth. It had rained heavily the day before and the roads were still muddy. Her husband, Ihachiro, carried the baby in his arms and Koiso wore rain clogs. They passed by Mamekoshi but did not stop even at her parents’ home. Although they walked more than twelve kilometers, Koiso had no discharge nor any other physical suffering. It was a marvelous pilgrimage without mishap.
Waiting for them, Oyasama said:
“It is time for Koiso to arrive.”
She was so pleased to see them that She personally held the baby in Her arms, saying:
“I will name her.”
Further:
“As this baby grows up, the path shall prosper, and keep on prospering forever. Thus with the meaning of prosperity for eternity I will name her Ikue.*”
And so the baby was named Ikue.
*’Iku‘ from ‘ikusue‘ meaning ‘eternity,’ and ‘e‘ from ‘ei‘ meaning ‘prosperity.’
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 85–86
Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 101
Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 84
84. In the Southern Half of the Province
When Koiso Yamanaka was to be married to Ihachiro Yamada of Deyashiki in Kurahashi Village, her father, Chushichi, asked Oyasama about the marriage. Oyasama said to him:
“I am not sending her to be married. Rather, I am sending her to the southern half of the province to spread the teachings as none have spread it there yet. However, it all depends on her heart.”
The Yamanaka parents were hesitant about this request because the Yamada family was living deep in the heart of the mountains, but Koiso was married on May 30, 1881, after saying, “Let me be married as God desires.”
Koiso then found that Isa Yamamoto, a relative of the Yamada family had been bedridden for more than five years due to the paralysis of her limbs. Koiso prayed to God for her recovery and repeatedly gave her sacred water. The following year, when Chushichi Yamanaka came to visit them, Isa was marvelously healed. She rose to her feet, all her joints cracking, and was able to walk by herself. In her village Koiso also found a girl named Naragiku Tanaka who had been blind for more than seven years. Koiso prayed to God for the girl’s recovery, each time washing her eyes with sacred water. Soon, she received God’s blessing. The mention of Koiso’s cure of the cripple and the blind girl became so well-known throughout neighboring villages that many people came to see her one after another.
Anecdotes of Oyasama, p. 70
Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 84
The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 53
The following is a translation of Part 53 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the May 2007 (No. 461) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.
Part 53: Ihachiro and Koiso Yamada
Three months after Ihachiro Yamada (from Deyashiki of Kurahashi Village, Yamato Province) married Koiso Yamanaka on August 22, 1881, Koiso’s father Chushichi Yamanaka accompanied them when Ihachiro had his first meeting with Oyasama. Oyasama said to Ihachiro, “Thank you for coming, thank you for coming,” and welcomed him as if he were a child coming home from afar and explained the teachings to him.