# Reikai Monogatari

Reikai Monogatari (霊界物語, Tales of the Spirit World or Tales from the Spirit World) is a religious text consisting of various tales. It was dictated by Onisaburo Deguchi (出口王仁三郎), the co-founder of the Japanese religious organization Oomoto.
Reikai Monogatari consists of 81 volumes of 83 books, as Volume 64 is composed of two books, and a special edition book about Onisaburo Deguchi's expedition to Mongolia. The first 72 volumes were written between 1921 and 1926, and the remaining 9 volumes written between 1933 and 1934.
Some devout Oomoto followers will read through the entire work, which often takes one year. Reading the text out aloud is believed to confer spiritual benefits.

## Contents

Unlike conventional religious scriptures, Reikai Monogatari is in the form of a novel. Onisaburo stated that in order to introduce the divine teachings widely, it was necessary to use a style of a novel instead of an academic text.
It mostly consists of rhymical tanka (a Japanese poetry of thirty-one syllables) and theatrical dialogues between characters. The dialogues are often comical and sprinkled with puns, wordplay and sometimes metafictional jokes that characters in the ancient era refer to or quote from Reikai Monogatari. Onisaburo stated that this tale is narrated with plain and simple words so that the ordinary people, instead of intellectuals, would comprehend the God's will.
It contains a wide range of themes: the creation of the universe, the divinity of the supreme God, the status, relations and activities of Gods, origin of the emergence of Oomoto, relationship between gods and human beings, true state of the Spirit World, theory of life, of philosophy, of religion, of politics, of economics, of ideology, of education and of art, imperishability of spirit, account of incidents in the past (of 350,000 years ago) and in the modern times (in 1920s), and prophecy about the future (of the 50th century). There are also myths of the histories of various continents and parts of the world corresponding the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan, and modern-day Iran, India, Sri Lanka, Africa, South America (including Argentina), and Australia.
In summary, Reikai Monogatari tells: All things were created and evolved by the God of Great Origin which spirit has been permeating throughout the universe. However, while the evolution has been uncompleted, the evilness generated in various forms and caused the disturbance to the order of both the Spirit and Present World. Therefore, in order to accomplish the divine work of saving the Worlds and of bringing Heaven on Earth, the God named Kan-susanoo-no-ookami made public the divine teachings, dispatched its promoters to all over the Worlds and let them induce evil ones to repent, with the power and spirit of the words. (Onisaburo defined Kan-susanoo-no-ookami as the God of Salvation which has devoted oneself, with the infinite mercy, to save all things both in the Spirit and Present World.)
The doctrine preached in Reikai Monogatari indicates fallacies of existing philosophies, religions, and ideologies and denounces the despotism generated from egoism and the oppression and exploitation of a certain race. It also admonishes people's depravity and indolence, and aims to inspire all human beings to be restored as "Child of God, Shrine of God" and to co-exist in mutual prosperity, in the world reconstructed under an order based upon the Supreme God's will.

### Outline

Outline of the Reikai Monogatari:
* Volumes 1–36
** Volume 1 (1st half): Onisaburo's training at Mount Takakuma and exploration of the spirit world
** Volume 1 (2nd half)–Volume 4: The founder's seclusion
** Volume 5–Volume 6 (1st half): The great flood, the creation of the country
** Volume 6 (2nd half)–Volume 12: The birth of the gods, the Battle of Yomihirasaka 黄泉比良坂の戦い, Princess Oki 大気津姫, and the opening of the Heavenly Rock Cave 天の岩戸開き
** Volumes 13–15: Set in the country of Persia/"Fusa" フサの国 (modern Iran), characters who will be important in future volumes make their 1st appearance
** Volumes 16–35: The story of the governance of Nishikinomiya 錦の宮 (the story of Takahime 高姫, the story of Tanba 丹波)
** Volumes 24–25: The story of Ryugu-jima 竜宮島 (modern Australia)
** Volume 27 (2nd half): The story of the Ryukyu Islands
** Volume 28: The story of Taiwan
** Volumes 29–33: The story of Takasago-jima 高砂島 (modern South America)
** Volumes 34–35: The story of Tsukushi-jima 筑紫島 (modern Africa)
** Volume 36: Set in Shiro-jima シロの島 (modern Ceylon)
* Volumes 37–72: Record of a Journey into Mongolia 入蒙記
** Volumes 37–38: Autobiography of Onisaburo from his youth
** Volumes 39–72: The story of the governance of Iso's mansion (the story of the subjugation of the Great Black Lord 大黒主). Set in the country of Persia フサの国 to the country of Tsuki [Moon] 月の国 (modern Iran to India).
** Volume 60 (2nd half): The Three Beautiful Songs 三美歌, various prayers 祝詞, and the Three / Five Divine Revelations 三五神諭
** Volumes 61–62: Oomoto Hymn 大本讃美歌
** Volume 64 (parts 1 and 2): Set in modern-day Jerusalem
** Volume 69: Story of the political reforms in the country of Uzu ウヅの国 (modern-day Argentina)
** Volume 70–72: Set in the country of Tsuki [Moon] 月の国 (modern India)
** Special volume: Journey to Mongolia – An autobiography of Onisaburo's entry into Mongolia in 1924
* Volumes 73–81: The Prosperity of Heaven and Earth 天祥地瑞
** Volumes 73–75: Story of the god Taigen Akitsuo 太元顕津男
** Volumes 76–78: Story of the god Asakahime 朝香比女
** Volumes 79–80: Story of the land of Kayahara 葭原の国土
** Volume 81: Story of Isako's island 伊佐子の島

### Volume 1

The first half of this volume is an account of the Spirit World which Onisaburo asserted to have witnessed and experienced during seven-days spiritual asceticism.

### Volume 37 and 38

These two Volumes are Onisaburo's autobiography from 1898 to 1916, from his middle twenties to middle forties.
In 1898, 26-year-old Kisaburo Ueda (Onisaburo's born name) managed to make a living by a small dairy farm founded with his friends in his home village Anao, which is in present-day Kameoka City of Kyoto Prefecture. Onisaburo stated that since his childhood as the eldest son of an extremely poor farm family, he had held the disgust for the oppression of the strong and the sympathy for the weak. Therefore, at that time he willingly had intervened troubles and fights caused by local hoodlums. And consequently, in March he was assaulted by hoodlums and severely injured. The next night, Kisaburo had a mystical experience. A strange fellow in western clothes and with a black pocketbook visited him. The fellow introduced himself as Matsuoka, an angel sent by the Goddess of Mount Fuji. Matsuoka led Kisaburo to a nearby Mount Takakuma. There, sitting straight on a rock only with an undergarment and without eating or drinking, Kisaburo underwent an asceticism which was divided into two parts, one hour in the Spirit World, followed by two hours in the Present World.
During this seven-days asceticism, it is said that Kisaburo reached the state of being spiritually connected with the god, had his spirit explore in Heaven, Hell and the Present World, comprehended the truth of the universe and perceived that he was commissioned to save the world. Onisaburo asserted that he grasped the essence of various divine capabilities including that of seeing all things at any time and any place, of knowing others' destinies, of penetrating into others' minds and of uttering divine voices.
In August, following an order from the God possessing him, Komatsubayashi-no-mikoto, Kisaburo went to Ayabe, Kyoto and met with Nao Deguchi who was in early sixties at that time.
Six years before, in 1892 Nao was possessed by the God which named himself as Ushitora-no-konjin. The God proclaimed to be the god who would reconstruct all the world. From the next year, illiterate Nao started delivering the divine messages through the automatic writing. Before that, as she had shouted the messages against her will, she was regarded as insane by her family members and neighbors and was confined in a latticed space in her own small house.
The automatic writings conveyed various messages such as the histories and correlations of the gods, the relationships between the gods and human beings, criticism of the modern society, prophecies about the reconstruction of the world and notions of Nao herself and her followers.
In 1899, the automatic writing declared that Kisaburo is the genuine one who should take care of Ushitora-no-konjin and that the divine commission of reconstructing the world is assigned to Nao and Kisaburo. Shortly after that, Kisaburo and Nao founded a new religious organization called "Kinmei Reigakkai" in Ayabe, which would be developed into Oomoto.
In the early years, in addition to healing the locals' diseases, Kisaburo practiced the ritual by which his trainee was put into a state of the divine possession. In this ritual Kisaburo acted as Saniwa, who inquires and judges the true identity of the god possessing the trainee. In many cases, his trainees were possessed by the evil spirits which feigned themselves to be the righteous gods and made the possessed perform aberrant acts.
In 1900, Kisaburo married the youngest daughter of Nao, Sumi Deguchi, who had been appointed to be the successor of Nao by the automatic writing.
In 1900 and 1901, Kisaburo, Nao, Sumi and selected followers fulfilled the following missions in compliance with the divine demands made through the automatic writings;
"The Opening of Oshima and Meshima": Oshima (another name, Kanmurijima) and Meshima (another name, Kutsujima) are uninhabited islets in Wakasa Bay facing the Sea of Japan. Firstly, they landed on Oshima and visited Oitojima Shrine. One month later, they landed on Meshima, built a small shrine and served it. The purpose is, according to the automatic writings, is to restore the God Kunitokotachi-no-mikoto and upright deities who had followed him. As narrated from Volume 1 to 4, Kunitokotachi-no-mikoto is the founder and the original sovereign of the Divine World of the Earth. He was compelled by evil gods to retreat in Meshima and since then had secretly protected the Earth.
"Asceticism at Mount Kurama": Besides Nao, Kisaburo, Sumi and one follower Haruzo Shikata was selected as a member of the asceticism. Taught by Kisaburo, this high teen boy became excelled at supernatural capabilities. However, due to the ambition and self-conceit, he was possessed by a powerful evil god and turned to be one of the fiercest opponents of Kisaburo. The automatic writing told that the purpose of this asceticism is to demand all the followers for their repentance and to show an example of the good and evil. At Mount Kurama, Haruzo suffered from mysterious incidents. Since then, he became severely depressed, was suddenly taken ill and died shortly after.
"The Service of the Water of Moto Ise": Nao, Kisaburo, Sumi and thirty-nine followers visited Koutai Shrine in present-day Fukuchiyama City, which is one of Moto Ise Shrines. Moto Ise is said to be a shrine where the Goddess Amaterasu had been temporarily enshrined before finally enshrined in present-day Ise Shrine. The divine order by the automatic writing, which was not revealed to most of the followers at that time, was to secretly draw the forbidden sacred water from the river near the Shrine. The drawn-up water was poured into three wells in Ayabe. And later Nao poured the rest, mixed with sacred water given from Izumo-taisha, into the sea between Oshima and Meshima, declaring that this water would circulate all over the world in three years and the world would begin to move. Three years later, Russo-Japanese War broke out.
"The Service of the Fire at Izumo": Nao, Kisaburo, Sumi and twelve followers visited Izumo-taisha and was given, together with sacred water and soils, the fire which, according to the history of the Shrine, has been burning from the Ages of Gods. The fire was brought back to Ayabe and kept lit for one hundred days.
According to the automatic writings, these sacred Water and Fire would perform a function of purifying the people's spirits all over the world and the world would be reconstructed with the protection of these Water and Fire.
As repeatedly narrated in these two Volumes, for about two decades in Ayabe with Nao, Kisaburo (who changed his name to Onisaburo Deguchi in 1910. endured the incomprehension, misunderstanding, incessant oppositions including attempts of assassination of the Nao's old followers. Although most of them were good-natured, they were too ignorant and superstitious. And they were obsessed with the misconception that the God possessing Kisaburo is the evil God which opposes the God possessing Nao and therefore is the one which must repent. Even the automatic writings had become very hostile and rebellious to Onisaburo. However, in 1916 the automatic writing declared that the God had possessed Onisaburo is Kan-susanoo-no-ookami. By this, Nao finally realized her own longstanding misconception.

### Special edition

This volume is an account of Onisaburo's expedition in Mongolia.
By the First Oomoto Incident, Onisaburo was obliged to obtain the authorities' permission of the journey outside Kyoto. Ignoring this obligation, in February 1924 he secretly headed for Mongolia, with some selected disciples including Morihei Ueshiba who later founded the martial art of Aikido. His wish was to establish a new kingdom in the wilderness and to form a federation of East Asian countries in preparation for the unification of the world by the religion and the construction of Heaven on Earth.
Arriving in Mukden (present-day Shenyang City, China), Onisaburo and his party formed an alliance with Lu Zhankui, the local warlord. Lu obtained an order of dispatch to Outer Mongolia from Zhang Zuolin, the ruler of Manchuria at the time. Marching forward bad roads by cars and on horsebacks, Onisaburo healed the sick and the injured and became revered by the locals. Entreated by Lu to work a miracle, he reluctantly had his disciple cause a storm and instantly stopped it.
As Onisaburo's party increased the influence, Zhang became agitated and had a suspicion. In June he ordered his army to drive the party to Bayisingtu (present-day Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, China) and executed Lu and his subordinates by shooting. Onisaburo and his five disciples including Ueshiba were in shackles and made to stand in front of the firing squad. Onisaburo composed the death poem, not only for himself but for all others. However, the execution was suspended at the last minute. In the end, Onisaburo's party was claimed by and handed over to the Japanese Consulate and then deported to Japan.
Thus, the expedition ended abruptly. However, it became the first step for Oomoto to expand its teachings overseas. In 1925 Oomoto founded an organization Jinrui Aizen-Kai (Universala Homana Asocio) which advocates the amity and harmony of all mankind.

## Dictation and publishing

The dictation started in 1921. Within five years until June 1926, up to Volume 72 (of 74 books) were dictated. And from October 1933 to December 1934, the last nine volumes were dictated.
Onisaburo dictated most parts of Reikai Monogatari lying on futon (Japanese style mattress), without any reference. Selected followers transcribed his dictation, made a clean copy, read out to Onisaburo and corrected errors if any.
Dictation was done without any faltering and any restatement. In the beginning, it took about ten days to complete the dictation per volume. Then the speed of dictation increased along with that of the transcription and it took only about three days per volume.
Tired from dictating day after day, Onisaburo sometimes started snoring in the middle of dictation. Then he became awake and asked the transcriber how far he had dictated. As the transcriber read back a few sentences, he resumed the dictation from the last sentence. When the story took place in a cold climate, Onisaburo used a kotatsu (Japanese foot warmer) even in summer. When the story took place in a tropical climate, he used a fan even in winter. And when the character suffered pain, he suffered likewise.
In December 1935, the publication of Reikai Monogatari was prohibited by the authorities on the ground of the desecration of the Imperial dignity. After the fall of the Empire of Japan and of its authorities which suppressed Oomoto, Reikai Monogatari has been republished in several editions for Oomoto followers and for the public. The edition published from 1967 to 1971 was stocked in the libraries of principal foreign universities including Boston University, Moscow State University and University of Cambridge.
In 2008, two manga books about the Reikai Monogatari, Shin'en Bimyō (深遠微妙) (based on Part 2 of Volume 16) and Setsuzan Yuukoku (雪山幽谷) (based on Part 3 of Volume 16), were published by Aizen Sekaisha (愛善世界社).

## Background

In the 1910s, some high-ranking military officers became Oomoto's followers. This created apprehensions in the regime at the time, the Government of the Empire of Japan.
In February 1921, Onisaburo and two executives of Oomoto were arrested and charged with Lèse-majesté and violation of the Newspaper Law. (In 1920 Oomoto had bought up a daily newspaper company and had publicized the prophecy and warning of war, calamity and social reform.) This suppression is called the First Oomoto Incident. (And the Second Oomoto Incident occurred from 1935 to 1945 is a thorough suppression unparalleled in the modern history of Japan. Onisaburo was imprisoned for six years and eight months.)
After being detained for 126 days, in June Onisaburo was released from prison and returned to Oomoto's headquarter in Ayabe.
Onisaburo stated that on October 8, 1921 he was given a divine direction to "make public the state of the Spirit World which the God had revealed in the lunar calendar February of the 31st year of the Meiji Era." (In that year, 1898 in the Christian Era, he practiced seven-days spiritual asceticism.) Furthermore, the divine spirit of Nao, who had passed way three years before, gave Onisaburo a stern demand about the publication. Then the next day, he started dictating Reikai Monogatari.
And two days later, according to the authorities' order, the demolition of Oomoto's central shrine started. Hearing its noise, Onisaburo continued the dictation.