Photo: Ichiro Kishimi

This CityPoem from Kyoto was contribited by Ichiro Kishimi.

> Ichiro Kishimi’s pages, including ‘Letter from Kyoto’ in English
> See also the discussion about this poem below this picture on Flickr.com

Kyoto CityPoem by Onasiburo Deguchi

This monument is inscribed with a tanka (poem) by Onisaburo Deguchi, the cofounder of the Omoto religion.

    At Tsuruyama my wife weaving
    At Kameoka I teach Eternity (bandai)

The letters in italic are the names of places (literally crane-mountain and turtle-hill respectively) where this founder and his wife missioned. Tsuru (crane) and kame (turtle) are considered blessed animals because cranes have graceful figures, and turtles enjoy longevity. There is a saying which goes 'cranes live for a thousand years and tortoises for ten thousand years.' Bandai was translated into Eternity, but literally it means ten thousand years.

About 'Tanka' poetry

Tanka consists of five units (often treated as separate lines when Romanized or translated) usually with the following mora pattern: 5-7-5 / 7-7. The 5-7-5 is called the kami-no-ku ("upper phrase"), and the 7-7 is called the shimo-no-ku ("lower phrase").

Tanka is a much older form of Japanese poetry than haiku. In ancient times poems of this form were called hanka ("reverse poem"), since the 5-7-5-7-7 form derived from the conclusion (envoi) of a choka. Sometimes a choka had two envois.

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About the author

Onisaburo Deguchi (1871-1948) was one of the chief figures of the Oomoto religious movement in Japan.

He is remembered as a flamboyant, jovial patriarch of that school, and is best known to Westerners as a teacher and religious instructor of Morihei Ueshiba. Oomoto was founded by Nao Deguchi, who adopted Onisaburo into her inner circle of students. When he came to her, he was Kisaburo Ueda, and married Nao's daughter Sumi, quickly becoming an internal pillar of the Oomoto impetus.

He wrote the impressive Reikai Monogatari (Tales of the Spirit World), an 81-volume work which covered his alleged travels into the spiritual planes of existence, as well as many other theologically permeated stories which expounded on numerous Oomoto spiritual ideals.

Throughout his life, Onisaburo was often quite flamboyant, taking delight in wearing richly textured costumes of his own design and posing as a wide variety of deities, mostly Buddhist or Shinto. He would also dress as a shaman, and often even took up the appearances of female divinities. His outlook on life tended to be eclectic, sometimes even to the point of being outrageous. At varying points of his lifetime, he claimed to be an incarnation of Miroku Butsu (Skt: Maitreya Buddha), and often referred to himself as a remodeller of the world in jest.

Onisaburo's legacy is largely concerned with art, including a wealth of calligraphic and poetic works. He also dabbled in cinema, sculpture, and pottery, leaving behind thousands of items which are now considered by many enthusiasts to be of great value.

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About Oomoto

Oomoto (literally "foundation"), also known as Omoto-kyo or similar Omoto, is a Japanese religion, often categorized as a new Japanese religion and offshoot of Shinto. The religion was founded, in 1892, by Nao Deguchi. The spiritual leaders of the movement have predominantly been women. Since 2001, the movement has been guided by its fifth leader, Kurenai Deguchi.

Since the time of its second spiritual leader, Onisaburo Deguchi, the constructed language Esperanto has played a major role in the Oomoto religion. Starting in 1924, the religion has published books and magazines in Esperanto and this continues today. Almost all of the 45,000 active members of Oomoto have studied some Esperanto, and around 1,000 are fluent in the language.

From 1935 to 1942 the movement experienced severe persecutions in Japan and did not have the right to act, but by 1950 the movement had regrouped.

Oomoto has two major centers near Kyoto city. In Ayabe there is a temple for religious services, and in Kameoka is a mission in a large park (former site of Kameoka Castle) that includes offices, schools, a publishing house, and shrines.

Art has an important role in Oomoto. The members wish to beautify the world by art, and believe that art brings humans closer to the divine.

Members of Oomoto believe in several gods. The most important are Ookunitokotachi, Ushitora, and Hitsujisaru, but the creator of Esperanto, L. L. Zamenhof, is also considered a god. However, all of these gods, including Zamenhof, are believed to be aspects of a single Master God. 

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See also the second city poem in Kyoto on Inspiring Cities