which at TEC was often an indication, though incomplete, of the more central or peripheral
position of someone within the “TEC community” and relatedly, within the broader realm of
Tenrikyo. Learning the dances was a simpler task for Japanese speakers (particularly native
speakers or those with near native ability<fnref n="457" />) as the dance gestures were linked to the words and
meaning<fnref n="458" /> of these Japanese songs. Thus, for a person who did not understand Japanese, it was
generally less evident to remember the dance gestures due to the lack of the song’s lyrical
meanings contained in these Japanese songs serving as a prompter of recollection for them.

On multiple occasions when I spoke with young adult Tenrikyo followers from Japan at TEC
(residential missionaries, exchange students, those in France on “working holiday” visas<fnref n="459" />, etc.)
and asked about their impression of this European center and if they found anything particularly
interesting in comparison to the Tenrikyo contexts with which they were familiar in Japan, I
received the response that they found it “amazing<fnref n="460" />” that non-Japanese people could perform the
intricate Service dances. This was because even for Japanese people born and raised in the faith
(such as themselves), these gesturally detailed dances were quite difficult to learn. For European
people not raised in the faith who were thus not exposed to these sacred dances from an early age
and were not fluent in the Japanese language, the task was regarded as much more challenging.
Through this, we can see how the language, as well as the religious tradition (or lack thereof),
with which one was raised were important contributing components to the two-tiered nature of
the TEC community.

As indicated previously, in these sessions, not only were the dance movements and instrumental
songs practiced, but particular ways of being which were mutually transmitted between those in

have not mastered the dance or instrumental role they assumed yet.

<footnote n="457">⁴⁵⁷ The Service songs are in an old dialect of the Osaka region where the foundress lived and furthermore, are poetic and less than straightforward. Thus, a basic competency in modern Japanese would not render a person capable of understanding these sacred songs. Even for native speakers, they are not straightforward to understand.</footnote>

<footnote n="458">⁴⁵⁸ As stated previously, the meanings contained in these songs are often viewed as being unclear or multilayered in which they can be better understood in association with their accompanying dance gestures.</footnote>

<footnote n="459">⁴⁵⁹ Japan and France are included in an agreement between numerous countries which allows young adults below the age of thirty to live and work in a partner country for one year. (There are some exceptions to this general summary of the program.) It is common for Japanese people to come to France on these working holiday visas.</footnote>

<footnote n="460">⁴⁶⁰ The Japanese word almost invariably used was “sugoi.”</footnote>
the student role and those in the instructor role were also imported. A notably similar mode of patient encouragement and praise for the students' efforts and progress was displayed by a multitude of individuals, both male and female, serving in the role of instructor. During these hands-on moments of learning through practice, not only were the instructors working to help the students acquire practical competency of this ritual, they were also cultivating and reinforcing particular ways of being in these students and within themselves. Students also tended to display similar dispositions during these practice sessions, thereby enacting a mirrored feedback loop of this dispositional mode of interaction. It is interesting to note that this was also displayed during the Sunday "*manabi*<fnref n="461" />" sessions held at TEC, for which the same content was taught by core members of the "TEC community," some but not all of whom also served in this role during the seminar.

This modality was also displayed in the instructional session of the Service instruments that I observed in the children's festival in Tenri City, which I discuss later in this thesis. What is important to emphasize is that through cultivating ritual competency in themselves and in others, they were also cultivating a broader Tenrikyo way of being. This overarching disposition was connected both to the ritual of the Service that was regularly enacted at Tenrikyo sites and also in the more expansive way of being that was encouraged in these religious actors by means of both structured and more informal interactions. Through training seminar participants in the ritual of the Service, they were also training them how to be a Tenrikyo follower in a more global way.

*Conveying important components of Tenrikyo through repetition, embedding people in a religious realm*

At the end of the day, each linguistic cohort reassembled in their designated study room<fnref n="462" /> at 7:15 pm for a brief evening session to conclude our day of structured study before dinner, which began at 7:30 pm. The main activity of these sessions was the study of two chiefly important Tenrikyo teachings: the “Eight Dusts” and the “Ten Providences of God the Parent,” both of which are

<footnote n="461">⁴⁶¹ “Learning sessions” held at TEC most Sunday, excluding when the Monthly Service and other events are going on.</footnote>

<footnote n="462">⁴⁶² The English cohort during my initial year of participation in the seminar was based in the same room as that of the French-cohort during my second year of participation, thereby making my description of the space we used the same for both years.</footnote>
cited to have been conveyed orally by the foundress and now constitute a main dogmatic
component of the religion. For these “home-room” evening sessions, we installed ourselves
casually in the more informal seating area of the room on couches located to one side of the room
rather than at the table we studied at earlier in the day. This, along with the fatigue we often felt
at the end of our very full days, encouraged a more relaxed ambiance than there was during the
earlier classes held in this room.

At the beginning of these short sessions, the staff member charged with heading it, who was
either one of our instructors or someone charged with assisting in other parts of the program,
would ask if there were any issues we would like to discuss. There rarely were as we had already
spoken a great deal with each other throughout the day. Then, to learn or deepen our
understanding of these two chiefly important Tenrikyo teachings, we would take turns reading
aloud from a written list of the “Eight Dusts” or “Ten Providences of God the Parent,” each of
which was accompanied by a defining explanation, printed on a dual-sided laminated sheet used
for this purpose every year. Each evening, we alternated between the two sides of the sheet,
thereby exposing us equally to these two listings that compose important components of the
religion, taking in their content through visual and auditory means.

During these short fifteen-minute end-of-the-day sessions, there was generally little discussion of
what we were reading, with emphasis rather on their becoming part of our mental repertoire by
means of repetitive exposure through auditory and visual means. Through this daily reiteration,
even someone such as myself who was previously completely unfamiliar with these two
somewhat detailed Tenrikyo listings had them largely committed to memory by the end of the
three-week seminar. The “Ten Providences of God the Parent” and the “Eight Dusts” themselves
were precisely determined<fnref n="463" /> in Tenrikyo and were always listed identically. Their accompanying
explanations/definitions, though, particularly those of the Eight Dusts, were not unanimously
expounded upon through the same precise words in all Tenrikyo texts but rather were general
explanations that sometimes differed in their precise wording.

<footnote n="463">⁴⁶³ The original Japanese words used to reference the Eight Dusts are identical in all contexts. The translated English versions are generally the same, though because some of these words are difficult to translate, there was the possibility of some variability in their translations.</footnote>
These two list-based teachings were a centrally important part of the religion that was imparted
and was otherwise present in a variety of Tenrikyo contexts. They served as an important
component of the Tenrikyo cosmological perspective of the world and of humans that was
conveyed through both the direct learning of them and also through the indirect means of their
reference, thereby influencing how followers (and other implicated people) viewed themselves,
others, and the world and how they conducted themselves and related to others. They also
provided an underlying referential base shared by followers which provided an additional point of
conceptual commonality between followers regardless of location or church lineage.

The method through which these teachings were conveyed by repeated exposure to an identical
medium was a prominent Tenrikyo educational model through which people came to know and
internalize the teachings. The most pronounced examples of this were the Service ritual and the
series of nine identical Besseki lectures one must attend to be eligible to receive the Sazuke,
whereby one becomes a Yoboku. In the case of the Service, followers who actively practice the
faith as prescribed perform the Morning and Evening Services twice daily and are also exposed to
the Monthly Service through either its active performance or in the slightly more passive role as
an audience member generally at least once a month, and often more. The reason this "monthly
ritual" was commonly attended multiple times in a single month is that Monthly Services are held
at mission stations, churches, grand churches, TEC, Tenrikyo UK Centre, and around the Jiba in
Tenri City on different designated days of the month. Numerous followers in the Paris area, for
example, regularly attended the Monthly Service of the mission station to which they were
principally rooted and also the inter-lineage TEC Monthly Service, along with occasional
attendances of Monthly Services in Japan when they were there.

In my own case, this occurred through my attendance at the Monthly Service of the Sugimoto's
mission station on the first Sunday of the month and the Monthly Service of TEC on the second
Sunday of every month. During my time in Japan, I attended the Monthly Services conducted
both around the Jiba on the 26th of the month and at the grand church to which the Sugimoto's
mission station was linked via its intermediary supervising branch church organizationally
positioned between the two. Were my schedule different during my fieldwork in Japan, I would
have also attended the Monthly Service at this linking branch church with Yuko Sugimoto and
her son, but was unable to because of my attendance at the international forum for English-
speaking followers of “Tenri Forum” held at the same time in Tenri City.

The ritual of the Service was always the same, regardless of location. Through regular exposure to its songs and dances (positioned as one of the three sacred Tenrikyo texts), a similar model of imparting important teachings through repetitive inculcation was manifested in disparate Tenrikyo sites. Rather than the Service being regarded principally as an endeavor requiring a high level of intellectual analysis, regular contact with it was positioned as being of chief importance. Similarly, the repeated attendance of the nine identical Besseki lectures, which I discuss in more detail in chapter ten, required before a person was eligible to become a Yoboku was also a key means through which the religion's teachings were transmitted through repeated exposure to the same orally conveyed words in the same designated hall for this purpose in Tenri City by selected orators dressed in identical Tenrikyo robes which were likewise donned in other Tenrikyo contexts by ritual actors. It was esteemed that through this, the imparted teachings would become included in the conscious and unconscious parts of the attendee through the repetition of this experience positioned as a particularly special moment that occurred in a particularly special place. That Besseki attendees were permitted to sleep during these lectures, and somewhat commonly did, attests to my assertion that the means through which this religion was imparted through structured repetition was not relegated solely to an intellectual mastery of the information conveyed but rather also to their becoming part of the individual through repeated experiential exposure, somewhat regardless of their measurable mastery of the content.

The presence of this model of religious inculcation via repetition was one of the key ways people took part in the religion, through which it became part of their selves, and connectedly, they were embedded in this religious realm. Being part of this “religious realm,” a term I use to reference the globality of Tenrikyo, was not constructed through a singular defining moment of declared adherence to the religion nor to a precise set of practices or doctrine. It was constructed, rather, through ongoing exposure to numerous facets of it. Now, in maintaining my focus on the European Seminar, I will discuss in the next chapter its participants from the two years I took part in it so that the reader may have an idea concretely of the various types of people who took part in this training.
# Chapter eight: The European Seminar as a social microcosm reflective of the broader social world of TEC

## a. Seminar participants as representative of different aspects of the wider TEC and Tenrikyo spheres

*Being part of the seminar, being part of a social world*

Just as taking a closer look at the European Seminar was illustrative of the broader Tenrikyo realm, a detailed discussion of the participants present at this European training also provides a useful insight into the broader collection of people who together composed the eclectic, multi-layered, and non-fixed social world of TEC. While the people regularly present at TEC Monthly Services were largely representative of the local Tenrikyo population living in the Paris area, broader European Tenrikyo gatherings, such as the seminar, brought together numerous members of the wider “TEC community” dispersed throughout Europe. Such moments of coming together from multiple locations contributed to the feeling of being at a social crossroads that was repeatedly constructed and reconstructed at TEC.

In thinking about TEC gatherings and the people who were habitually a part of them, numerous sub-spheres of this group that formed a broader “community” are viewable. Similar to other sub-spheres of this broader social collectivity, the sphere of these dispersed European followers that was created and recreated at TEC was largely continuous over time, though not constantly present at the center. Furthermore, this sub-sphere was partially, though not entirely, connected to other sub-spheres of the broader group which also existed at and were linked to TEC, such as the TEC Monthly Services and the non-markedly religious events held at (or associated with) the center which semi-regularly brought together locally living followers and non-followers, such as those previously discussed who were connected to TEC via ACFJT.

For most core members of the “TEC community,” when coming to TEC for communal activities, they were coming to a warmly regarded social and physical world that they had known for significant periods of time. Furthermore, for these core members, such events served as social reunions which could be rightly likened to “family reunions” due to the longevity and nature of the relationships between many members of this inner group. In any given year, far more people participated in the program as staff (a category which included both instructors and support staff)
than as students. Thus, in discussing the seminar as a shared experience between many members of the TEC community, it was not exclusively as students that members of this social collectivity accrued the experience of participating in it. Through taking part in this program, whether as a student, staff member, or both<fnref n="464" />, a shared referential point was acquired which served as a binding commonality between those who participated in this program at the same time. This binding commonality was extended, to a lesser degree, to those who had participated in it on separate occasions but nonetheless shared the general experience and more broadly, with people who had participated in a similar Tenrikyo training elsewhere. By describing participants with whom I took part in the European Seminar in this chapter, I am including a detailed exemplary window into a component of the broader social world on which my thesis is focused that occurred at both a precise moment in time and through a particular framework but which can be extended to and reflective of the broader “TEC community.”

*Seminar cohort of the English-speaking class: a case study of the multifarious “TEC community”*

The language-based cohorts of the seminar were partially, but not entirely, representative of the linguistically linked sub-groups of TEC, and more broadly, of Tenrikyo. In taking part in a specific cohort, one was also participating in the wider collection of social actors linked through their linguistic commonality, and for many, also through their connection to a particular country, such as France or the UK. This linguistically associated linking feature was manifested during both years of my participation in the program, first in the English-language cohort, then for my second year, in the French language cohort. During my initial period of getting to know TEC and its connected community that occurred during my first year of participation in the seminar, in addition to myself, there were three other people in the English cohort of the program: Kenta (the orange-haired twenty-six-year-old man from Japan who I sat next to during my first attendance of a Monthly Service the day before the seminar began), Stephanie (the twenty-two year old woman from London seated on my other side during this initial Monthly Service attendance) and Yuta (a

<footnote n="464">⁴⁶⁴ Some people participated in the seminar as a student one year and helped with the seminar as staff other years. The second year I participated in the seminar, a young Japanese woman raised in the religion who was in Europe for a university exchange helped with the seminar as support staff during a portion of it, but also took part in attending certain classes as a student.</footnote>
British man in his early thirties of mixed British and Japanese heritage raised and currently residing in the UK).

Stephanie only participated in the first week of the seminar, which she explained was due to needing to return to work in London the following week. Kenta and Yuta, along with myself, completed the entire three-week residential program. In this group, there was an equal distribution of Tenrikyo "members" and "non-members." Yuta and Kenta were both followers of and highly involved in the religion and held the designation of Yoboku. Stephanie and I did not view Tenrikyo as our own religion, were not classified as Yoboku, and had never been to Tenri City.

As mentioned previously, this mix of people who were "members" of the religion and people who did not view themselves as such was also a common theme at numerous other events held at TEC. These four participants in the English cohort thus showcased, in a compact version, that not all people who came to TEC, or were involved in its religious activities, were "members" of the religion. In this, we can see that the question I was often asked in relation to my research of how many members of the religion there were in Paris, France, and/or Europe was not a question fully applicable to the population on which my research was focused. Similar to many other social groups, in Tenrikyo and at TEC, the frontier between insiders and outsiders was fluid and not fully defined. In reference to the "TEC community," Yuta, Kenta, and Stephanie were in varying ways all part of the greater "TEC community," or in this specific case, it would be more accurate to say "the TEC story." Yuta was the most centrally situated of these three individuals in the "TEC community," but Stephanie and Kenta were also part of the greater social story of TEC, with each being exemplary of different components of this multi-layered social collectivity.

*Stephanie: an example of differing perspectives on a participant's present and potential religious identity*

Despite the fact that Stephanie did not present herself as a follower of the faith when we participated together in the seminar nor did she come back to TEC afterwards, at least during the span of my fieldwork, she is included in the overall social story of TEC due to the time she spent at the center and through her continued social contact with members of this community. In her self-introduction to the small English-speaking group on the first day of the program, she told us
that she was a member of the Church of England but found it interesting to learn about other religions. She found religious ceremonies to be beautiful and told us about a Buddhist ritual which involved water that she found particularly lovely, thereby demonstrating an appreciation for religious rituals outside her own tradition.

Like many other people who come to know Tenrikyo, Stephanie was introduced to the religion through a friend. In her case, it was through her friend from university, Masae Yagishita: the youngest of four British-born young adult siblings of the London-based mission station discussed in some detail in chapter six. Stephanie explained to us in her introduction that she initially came to know of Tenrikyo when she was at the Yagishitas' home to visit Masae one evening at the time of the Evening Service, which she was invited to join, and told us she found it to be beautiful. Subsequently, she would come to the Yagishitas' home-based mission station for Services from time to time.

Stephanie seemed quite mature for her young age and in our self-introductions, when she stated her age of twenty-two years, she added that she often felt about five decades older. Among other information that she gave about herself in this self-presentation, she told us that since she was a teenager, she had taken care of her mother and grandmother, both of whom had health problems. Mary, the soft-spoken Hawaiian woman responded by saying that it must have been hard for her to have taken on so much at such a young age. Stephanie gently replied that when it is for people one truly cares about, one does not mind.

I never heard any comments from Stephanie which, at least from my perspective, implied that she was considering the adoption of Tenrikyo as her own religion. In fact, through my own lens, she displayed multiple indications that she was not. Near the end of the week, as the only other "non-member" at the seminar, I spoke to her about my own discomfort with what I felt to be pressure for us to become followers of the religion when I had been upfront from the beginning that this was not my motivation for coming and had been assured that being there out of anthropological curiosity was absolutely fine. I was particularly concerned about the upcoming Monthly Service
"practice" performance<fnref n="465" /> that we were preparing to do at the end of the week because, at that time, I did not feel comfortable performing in such an important religious ritual if it did not hold the same meaning to me that it was meant to hold for followers of the faith. Stephanie responded by sharing with me that she, too, had expected the seminar to be mainly theoretical rather than implicating participants in its religious practices as a significant portion of the program.

Despite this, she told me that she was going to perform in the Service at the end of the week because she knew how much it meant to those putting on the seminar. Based on what I heard from Stephanie earlier during her self-introduction regarding her perspective that helping look after her mother and grandmother had not been a hardship because she cared for them, it was not surprising that she similarly prioritized doing something for others in the context of the seminar. Although Stephanie did not identify as a follower, this displayed characteristic was one of the most important values of the faith.

In respect to Stephanie's relationship to Tenrikyo, I encountered a discord between her self-presentation during our shared time at the seminar and what I heard about a month later from one of the adult children of the Yagishita mission station which, as Stephanie's introductory point to the religion, was her "home site" according to the Tenrikyo model of organization. Based on what I saw Stephanie say and do, as previously put forth, I viewed her interest in the religion to be situated within a greater interest in and appreciation of diverse religious traditions rather than as a potential source of her own religious faith and identity. In talking with this family member of the Yagishita mission station who I stayed in touch with after the seminar, her relationship to the faith was expressed optimistically to be less clear, meaning that he communicated an unsure stance regarding if Stephanie would become a follower or not.

This incongruity of perspectives regarding Stephanie's present and future relationship to the religion was one example among many that I noted during my fieldwork. Often, there were strikingly divergent ideas held by people present together in communal scenes that took place at TEC and other locations connected to the "TEC community." Personally held viewpoints and

<footnote n="465">⁴⁶⁵ This performance was not considered an actual service performance, but rather a "practice" performance both because it was not performed on the second Sunday of the month, TEC's designated day for this ritual, and also because there were no specific requirements for performers as there were for the "real" Monthly Service of TEC.</footnote>
individual situations were commonly not talked about during the seemingly harmonious
collective scenes that came about at TEC in which the principal focus was on being together and
taking part in whatever activity was being engaged in, rather than on the precisely defined
positions and conceptualizations of each person. I contend that rather than this multiplicity of
ideas being a hindrance to the fabric of the “TEC community,” it was, in fact, a facilitator of it.
What was of central importance to the construction and existence of this group was not
uniformity of thought but rather lived togetherness and connections.

In discussing the less than clear perspective regarding the possibility of Stephanie becoming a Tenrikyo follower expressed by this Yagishita sibling, I use the word “optimistically” because attracting new followers to this mission station was an ongoing ambition of both this individual and his family who together constituted this lineage-based site. As extensively discussed, acquiring new followers was also a goal of the broader religious sphere of Tenrikyo that was circulated throughout its official and unofficial discourse, followers, and sites, including TEC. In the evangelical model put forth, followers were encouraged to make efforts to spread the path to others, even when their efforts did not seem likely to bear fruit. Accompanying this aim were recounted instances in which the “sincere<fnref n="466" />” efforts of people working to spread the faith produced observable results<fnref n="467" />, often through a person or people eventually coming to embrace it in concert with the physical, spiritual, emotional, and/or social benefits experienced by that person, which in the cosmological model of Tenrikyo are all interrelated. Commonly unstated but implied in this discourse was the additional desirable result that the religion, and most often the site of worship and connected lineage of the person who made such “sincere efforts,” gained an additional follower.

<footnote n="466">⁴⁶⁶ In English (and French) Tenrikyo discourse, “sincere” and “sincerity” are commonly used terms which are most often a translation of the Japanese word used in the religion of “makoto” (“まこと,”) which is generally written in Tenrikyo with syllabic hiragana characters as it was written by the foundress in the religious texts she composed rather than with kanji character.</footnote>

<footnote n="467">⁴⁶⁷ I say “observable results” because, as mentioned previously, such efforts are positioned as not only potentially producing observable results at the present time, but also in the positive results which may be produced in more indirect ways and potentially in future lives. Thus, the lack of immediate results generated through one’s actions is not necessarily indicative of a more global lack of effect.</footnote>
Considering that from my perspective Stephanie decidedly viewed herself as a member of the Church of England, with her connection to Tenrikyo being situated within the greater context of her appreciation of and interest in multiple other religious traditions, I thought it was rather strange that this Yagishita sibling who expressed a lack of clarity on how Stephanie viewed her interactions with Tenrikyo did not simply ask her about how she viewed her relationship to the faith. To me, she had been quite straight forward about her position and from my own point of view at the time, left little room for other interpretations. Only later did I come to understand that from the perspective of many Tenrikyo followers and also in various parts of official Tenrikyo discourse, it was considered normal that people do not immediately become followers of the path, but that sometimes through a combination of “sincere efforts” from followers and the Truth of the path, people sometimes did eventually come to embrace it in time. Moreover, making “sincere efforts” to spread the path by “sowing seeds” that may develop into something more was a centrally important and highly encouraged component of one’s religious engagement. Whether or not Stephanie ever did become a follower herself was somewhat of a separate issue than this Yagishita sibling making efforts toward this goal through which he was fulfilling this esteemed endeavor based largely in intention rather than measurable outcome.

The next year of the seminar, I met a young woman named Sarah also connected to the Yagishitas' London-based mission station who similarly did not identify as a member of the religion who was the sole participant of the English cohort that year. I learned that although Stephanie did not come back to TEC, Sarah occasionally saw her at the Yagishitas' mission station. Thus, a year after we met at the seminar, she was still connected to this mission station and thereby also to the Tenrikyo religion, though not necessarily through her own self-identification as a Tenrikyo follower<fnref n="468" />.

Within the multi-layered collection of social actors connected to varying degrees to the broader “TEC community” that was largely two-tiered in nature, Stephanie was positioned at its

<footnote n="468">⁴⁶⁸ Several years later, when meeting with one of the Yagishita brothers after my two-year period of concentrated fieldwork had ended, I asked if Stephanie still came to this mission station. I was told that she didn't, accompanied by the explanation that since Masae had been living in Tenri City for the past several years, where she initially completed the two-year graduate seminary program then worked as an English teacher at a Tenri high school, and Stephanie came to their mission station principally as Masae's friend, that she had not been coming in recent years since Masae was not there.</footnote>
periphery. This “included” position was established through her temporary presence at TEC during her week of participation in the seminar at which time she was highly implicated in its social world through her continual and often intensified contact with others present via the structure of the program, including a large percentage of the centrally implicated members of the “TEC community.” In relation to the web of connections that came together to constitute the “TEC community,” it is relevant to note that both Sarah and also the numerous members of the Yagishita family who were long-term core members of the “TEC community” served as bridges between Stephanie and TEC through sharing information about her presence at this London mission station. Although Stephanie’s presence at TEC was brief, her presence in its social world and social history was more long-term, thereby rendering her position in the eclectic “community” of TEC that was dispersed through both time and space peripherally included.

Kenta: an example of the fluidity of followers and practices coming from and leaving to Japan

The next participant of the English-language cohort I will discuss is twenty-six-year-old Kenta. He, too, was a passing presence at TEC. His only time spent there was also for the seminar, though in his case, for all three weeks. His personal situation and relationship to the faith, though, was quite different than Stephanie’s and showcases a different side of the more peripheral members of the collection of people connected to TEC. In contrast to Stephanie, Kenta was born and raised in the Tenrikyo faith. Like many of the core members of TEC, the religion held an important position in his life. His presence in Europe, and even more so at TEC, was temporary, thereby largely<fnref n="469" /> rendering his physical presence in the social world of TEC momentary while his presence in the broader social world of Tenrikyo was more fixed.

Kenta’s father was the head minister of a Tenrikyo church in Osaka. Being the eldest son of his family, as was typical in Tenrikyo, he was next-in-line to take over his father’s position as church head minister. Kenta’s father spoke English and could welcome non-Japanese followers to his church, such as members of US based Tenrikyo churches or mission stations to which this Osaka

<footnote n="469">⁴⁶⁹ I use the hedge word “largely” because although he was only physically present at TEC for a short time, his memory, his photo prominently displayed at TEC in this year’s seminar participant photo, and the continued connection maintained with members of the “TEC community,” such as through shared moments in Tenri City, rendered his presence at TEC partially continued after he was no longer physically there.</footnote>
church was connected as their parent church. Kenta wanted to continue in his father's footsteps and be able to communicate Tenrikyo concepts in English once it was his turn to take over the role of his church's head minister position. It was primarily for this reason that Kenta had spent the six months prior to the seminar living in England with a (non-Tenrikyo) family to improve his English competency. Connectedly, his participation in the English-cohort of the European Seminar before his scheduled return to Japan was motivated by his desire to improve his English, or more specifically, his ability to discuss the faith in English.

Kenta had already participated in numerous Tenrikyo trainings in Japan, including but not limited to Shuyoka. Furthermore, because he had been raised in a Tenrikyo church family, he had been closely involved in the religion since birth. His participation in the English cohort of the European Seminar was not so much to learn more about the path, but rather to increase his familiarity with how to talk about it in English, for which he was a dedicated student throughout the program. This culturally and linguistically based motivation for taking part in the European Seminar as a student was not unique to Kenta. Rather, it was similarly the key motivation of several other participants the following year who, similar to Kenta, had also been raised in Tenrikyo environments<fnref n="470" /> and had previously participated in similar Tenrikyo trainings elsewhere, but took part in the seminar mainly to acquire the linguistic and cultural competency to discuss these teaching with people of a different cultural and linguistic background.

At the end of the three weeks we shared at TEC, we had a final collective moment of reflection where each participant spoke about what they had learned through taking part in the seminar. Kenta told us that he liked the willingness of staff to make changes to accommodate particular situations. He continued that although it was a structured program in which everyone diligently studied the material, it was much less regimented than what he had experienced in similar contexts in Japan, including at his family's church where his father had been quite strict with the running of the church and its orchestration of Tenrikyo activities. Through his participation in the seminar at TEC, he saw that it was possible to be more flexible, and that this fluidity could be

<footnote n="470">⁴⁷⁰ Two of these referenced individuals had been raised at Tenrikyo lineage-based sites of worship with their parents in the role of head minister(one in Japan and one in Korea) while a Japanese young woman raised in a Tenrikyo family who was actively involved with their designated church and with the religion, though not as a head minister family, also participated in the seminar part-time while also helping with the program as support staff.</footnote>
helpful. He then added that his exposure to this less strict approach was something he would take back with him to Japan and use one day when he became charged with serving as head minister of his church.

The somewhat more laidback approach that Kenta felt at TEC in comparison to Tenrikyo contexts in Japan was partially reflective of Kenta's presence at TEC being as a European Seminar student: a role principally intended for Europeans. Although this program was commonly attended by Japanese followers born and raised in the faith, it was aimed at being adapted to European participants, with the perspective that Europeans are from cultures that are less strict and less hierarchical than Japanese culture coupled with the difficulty that Tenrikyo has had in attracting and retaining European followers. Accordingly, allowances had been made to encourage more Europeans to be attracted to and stick with the religion as they encountered it, which was just as, if not more, focused on the lived experience of interacting with religiously associated contexts than it was with the doctrine of the faith.

In contrast to Kenta's experience, I heard numerous young adult Japanese followers charged with official positions associated with the religion in France or Europe express that they were (or felt they were) obliged to conform to a rather strict system of Japanese social codes, including the age and rank-based hierarchical system of which they were positioned near the bottom, thereby obliging them to act accordingly in their interactions with TEC personnel. Such individuals who communicated this perspective included some of the young adult residential missionaries at TEC and other young adult Japanese followers charged with official positions in the religious organization who were culturally adapted to western and more casual interactional models through having spent significant periods of time living in places in which this was the general culture.

This culturally linked “obligation” was brought to my attention about a half year after my first time participating in the European Seminar when speaking with one of the non-Tenrikyo French young adults included in many of the non-manifestly religious contexts connected to TEC discussed in chapter three. We were at TEC for the annual children’s pajama party where we were providing assistance, and she talked about how tired one of the young adult missionaries she was close with was (the twenty-six year old man mentioned earlier in reference to how little rest
he seemed to get) and how in general, his experience at TEC was quite difficult for him. I expressed surprise, saying that he always seemed energetic and upbeat whenever I saw him. She, who was herself several years younger than him, replied that while that is true, as the youngest staff member in a Japanese cultural context in which hierarchical rank was closely associated with age, much of what would come up that needed to get done would fall on him to do. She then rhetorically inquired, do I never notice how tired he always is? Although it was true that there were occasionally subtle clues of this, his outward demeanor was not robustly expressive of it. This was in accordance with the prescribed manner of self-presentation of these young Tenrikyo representatives who were expected to be cheerfully industrious in a disciplined and orderly manner that conformed to their role.

I would like to now return to when I commented on his exhaustive efforts over a shared meal, during my second year of participating in the European Seminar, as mentioned in chapter seven, saying that if it were me, I would be quite tired and asked if he was not, to which I received his reply that he was, but that such social moments of conversation gave him energy. Somewhat later, by which point we had spent a significant amount of time around each other and thus knew each other better, thereby lessening his outward prescribed self-presentation (*tatemae*: "façade") and allowing him to share more of his *honne* ("true sound,") while chatting during a post-Monthly Service meal, he shared that he was tired and that in general during his time at TEC, he was frequently tired. Despite this, he regarded his experience at TEC and in France positively, as was evidenced through his choosing, in concert with organizing officials, to extend his period of stay at TEC several more years than had been initially planned and also by his heartfelt expression to me in our discussion slightly before he returned to Japan about how positive his experience at TEC (and in France) had been for him.

This regimented manner of making exhaustive efforts was similarly present in numerous structured engagements in Japan, including but certainly not limited to those which Kenta had been exposed to and indicated to regard as simply the manner with which one orchestrates and engages in structured Tenrikyo activities up until his participation in the European Seminar. Because Kenta's participation in the European Seminar as a student was a much more temporary position at TEC and one principally intended for Europeans, he did not feel the same culturally
associated expectations that such Japanese young adults of similar Tenrikyo backgrounds<sup>471</sup> expressed to experience at TEC, which was similar to how they would experience comparable Tenrikyo contexts in Japan.

Concerning Kenta’s comment, in addition to it being reflective of the role he occupied at TEC as one principally intended for Europeans, it was also exemplary of a wider phenomenon that I observed elsewhere during my research in which Japanese Tenrikyo followers sometimes travelled outside of Japan, saw how Tenrikyo operated and was understood in other countries, then took certain aspects of what they observed back to Japan, applying it to various facets of the religion within the country. In this, a multi-directional flow of influence was created in which Tenrikyo was exported abroad from Japan, and correspondingly, developments in how the religion was approached and practiced in locations outside of this country came back from abroad to influence Tenrikyo in the country in which it originated, was based, and had the vast majority of followers.

In thinking of Kenta’s connection with the “TEC community,” Kenta was firmly rooted in the greater Tenrikyo scene but his experience with the landscape of Tenrikyo in Europe was limited. The only time he spent on this continent was the six months he spent in the UK and the period of a little over three weeks he was at TEC for the seminar. Although his physical presence in Europe and at TEC was brief, his connection to the “TEC community” spanned beyond this precise moment in time and this geographic context. Even before Kenta had ever left Japan, he was socially connected to numerous members of the greater “TEC community” through various Tenrikyo social networks which he continued to be involved in afterwards. An example of this was that the head of a mission station in France from Osaka knew Kenta and his family though their connectedness in Japan. Furthermore, the head of the Yagishitas’ London-based mission station had served as an instructor in the Shuyoka program in Tenri City in which Kenta had participated. It was Mr. Yagishita who arranged for Kenta’s homestay in the UK. Even after he

<footnote n="471"><sup>471</sup> Kenta, like most TEC staff, was raised at a Tenrikyo church where his family was based and charged with an official position, which in the case of Kenta as with the majority of TEC staff, was by his father occupying the position of church head minister.</footnote>
was no longer physically in France, Kenta remained associated with the networks of connection
linked to TEC and the broader international scene of Tenrikyo, demonstrating the lack of absolute
boundaries between geographically associated Tenrikyo spheres.

*Yuta: an example of being and becoming part of a multilayered social world*

Our other classmate was Yuta: a soft-spoken British-born man in his early thirties<fnref n="472" />. Yuta had been raised mainly by his non-religious British father in England but had also spent six years of his young adult life in Japan where his brother and Japanese mother lived. Yuta's mother and most of her family in Japan were Tenrikyo followers. Yuta began his own journey in the faith as a young adult. Upon his mother's insistence during a time in his early twenties when he was unemployed and looking for direction while living in Japan, he participated in the three-month spiritual development course of Shuyoka through which he learned about and came to embrace the path.

The story of participating in a Tenrikyo training, whether that of Shuyoka or another, such as the European Seminar, during a point of indirection in one's young adult life and finding one's own faith in the path through the experience was a narrative that I commonly heard echoed by Tenrikyo followers from numerous countries who I met at TEC, in Japan, and also read about online. Through this shared account, we can see that Yuta's experience of "becoming Tenrikyo" was part of a broader Tenrikyo story that circulated throughout the greater sphere of Tenrikyo. The theme of becoming a follower of the path or deepening one's relationship to it during periods of unemployment was one that I repeatedly encountered throughout my research, including by numerous members of the "TEC community." I sometimes heard followers retrospectively discuss such periods of unemployment which encouraged their participation in such a training as having been positive turns in their life, evoking the commonly cited Tenrikyo teaching that "buds

<footnote n="472">⁴⁷² Despite his calm appearance, Yuta was in a rock band in the UK and shared his musical talent with us at TEC on several festive occasions, as is somewhat common at TEC and in other Tenrikyo contexts for followers with such talents to do. Such musical performances are largely understood as "hinokishin," performed from one's heart to the best of one's ability with the intention of bringing enjoyment to others.</footnote>
sprout from knots (on trees)<fnref n="473" />,” meaning that positive outcomes can arise from seemingly unfortunate or difficult circumstances.

Because both becoming involved in the religion and participating in spiritual trainings were commonly correlated with moments of adversity or when seeking guidance, it is contextually reasonable that people would choose to participate in such trainings and also that followers to whom they are connected, such as family members or one's “spiritual parent(s)” via one's “home site,” would encourage them to do so in these moments. As noted in chapter three, my own invitation to participate in the training through which I learned about the religion and became extensively involved in it was several weeks after I had quit my part-time job, thereby allowing me to the accept the invitation because of my newly open schedule. Thus, my own experience of coming to know and becoming involved in the religion was in accordance with this theme.

Yuta was scheduled soon after the seminar to become the second-in-charge person of Tenrikyo UK Centre. He had initially been asked to teach a segment of the seminar that year rather than participate in it as a student. He explained to our cohort that because he did not yet understand Tenrikyo teachings and rituals sufficiently enough to feel comfortable in the role of an instructor, he chose instead to attend the seminar as a participant to learn more. Yuta's ability at this time to deepen his knowledge and understanding of the path through structured instruction was again facilitated by the fact that he had recently become unemployed and consequently had time available<fnref n="474" />. Immediately after the TEC seminar, he additionally used this time available to go to Tenri City to attend a two-week “lay-minister’s course,” the completion of which accorded one the title of “lay minister.”

As a side note in discussing multiple members of the interconnected “TEC community,” it is interesting to note that Yuta was accompanied in his participation of this lay minister’s training by one of our seminar instructors: Thomas, a British man in his early fifties who regularly served

<footnote n="473">⁴⁷³ fushi kara me ga deru (ふしから芽が出る).</footnote>

<footnote n="474">⁴⁷⁴ The reason I mention these two instances of Yuta’s unemployment at which time he participated in these Tenrikyo trainings is such timing is common amongst Tenrikyo followers or non-followers who come to embrace or explore the faith through such trainings. One rather obvious practical factor which encourages this timing is due to people having more time to do so during such periods when they are not obligated to go to work.</footnote>
as an instructor in the European Seminar. Thomas was the only seminar instructor of the English cohort<fnref n="475" /> to not be Japanese, or of Japanese ancestry, and was also the only instructor of this cohort to not have been born in the faith. Thomas became a Tenrikyo follower approximately thirty years previously after he was introduced to the faith by a young Japanese woman living in England who slightly later became his wife. In telling me the story of how he became a Tenrikyo follower, he told me that when he was introduced to the religion, he was very sad; through Tenrikyo, he was able to find happiness. Like Yuta, Thomas would also be taking over a position of responsibility at the Tenrikyo UK Centre soon after, which in his case, was as the appointed head of the center, thus his participation in the lay minister's course would also be helpful in preparation of his upcoming Tenrikyo role.

Regarding this upcoming transfer of leadership at Tenrikyo UK Centre, Yuta also voiced concern about his ability to assume his role as second-in-charge of Tenrikyo UK Centre. The concern that Yuta voiced was one that was also commonly expressed by other Tenrikyo followers taking on responsibilities within the religion. This enunciated concern was partially reflective of the Tenrikyo teaching that cited “arrogance” (kōman) as one of the eight harmful dusts of the heart/mind, which translated to both an internal questioning of one’s own knowledge and understanding of the faith and also one’s readiness to fulfill a particular task or role among those who internalized and remained mindful of this teaching<fnref n="476" />. This encouraged the presence of such an expressed disposition in numerous Tenrikyo contexts which included, in my own observations, followers based in Europe, North America, and Japan and was largely a normative feature of Tenrikyo culture<fnref n="477" />. Thus, regardless of one’s internal thoughts and feelings, individuals in such Tenrikyo contexts often adhered to this social norm, thereby encouraging the implicated individuals to consciously and unconsciously take it on themselves.

<footnote n="475">⁴⁷⁵ Michel was the only non-Japanese instructor for the French cohort.</footnote>

<footnote n="476">⁴⁷⁶ This is a generalization. There was great variation in how people internalized such teachings.</footnote>

<footnote n="477">⁴⁷⁷ In saying this, I am speaking mainly of my observations at TEC and in multiple Tenrikyo contexts in Japan. In these observations, the majority of the participants were Japanese: a culture in which such modesty is generally a cultural norm. Thus, the line between Japanese culture and Tenrikyo culture on this matter was somewhat blurred. My lack of extensive observation in Tenrikyo contexts in which the majority of followers were not Japanese limits my ability to know if this Tenrikyo cultural norm was equally present in such contexts.</footnote>
As previously discussed, Tenrikyo culture was often closely connected with and reflective of the broader realm of Japanese culture. This voiced lack of excessive confidence associated with the avoidance of arrogance was reflective of this. The model of self-presentation included in this merging of Japanese culture and Tenrikyo culture was sometimes different than the general cultural codes of countries outside of Japan where there was a Tenrikyo presence, such as the United States and France<fnref n="478" />. In these countries, albeit to varying degrees depending on the people and context involved, manners of conducting oneself viewed as arrogant and thus avoided in Japanese culture and in Tenrikyo culture were often regarded positively as displays of “confidence” and thus were socially encouraged and reinforced. (Concerning this cultural contrast, it is interesting to note that when I was in the beginning stages of my thesis research, focused at the time on Japanese migrants in Paris, I was told by numerous recently arrived Japanese people that Japanese people who had been living in Paris for a while were often arrogant and overly prideful, something which was probably due to their adopted enactment of this different manner of socially reinforced self-presentation.<fnref n="479" />)

In addition to Yuta’s active participation in Tenrikyo in the UK, he, like many other European-based Tenrikyo followers living outside of the Paris area, was also part of the greater “TEC community” dispersed throughout the European continent who occasionally came to TEC, chiefly for special events, at which times a temporarily present, but reoccurring, community “native” to this center came about. During my two-year period of fieldwork, Yuta came to TEC about half-a-dozen times. Like many other long-term members of the European “Tenrikyo community” who came semi-regularly to TEC, Yuta was a long-term and familiar presence at the center even though he was only there several times a year.

Yuta was positioned slightly at the periphery of the multi-layered social collectivity that I refer to as “the TEC community” due to multiple factors. The most prominent of which was his non-local residence in combination with his being relatively new to this community and a relative

<footnote n="478">⁴⁷⁸ This statement is an overgeneralization and not reflective of numerous subtleties, including those connected with the fact that “national cultures” are not homogenous entities.</footnote>

<footnote n="479">⁴⁷⁹ Kenta mentioned a similar impression common among Japanese people in Japan that the way of being displayed by young Japanese adults returning to Japan after having spent time living in the US, such as for studies, was often shocking, though rather than being perceived as arrogant or prideful it was their cutting directness, particularly in instances in which such as an approach was considered ill-advised and rude.</footnote>
newcomer to the religion, thereby negating a certain level of “Tenrikyo habitus” that was often acquired through being raised in the faith, particularly in Japan or elsewhere by Japanese Tenrikyo parents. Furthermore, as Yuta received his upbringing predominantly outside of Japan by his non-Japanese (British) and non-Tenrikyo father after his Japanese Tenrikyo mother returned to Japan with Yuta’s younger brother when Yuta was quite young upon their parents’ divorce<sup>480</sup>, he was largely negated of having a Japanese (and Tenrikyo) habitus despite having spent several years in Japan as a young adult. Relatedly, although Yuta learned Japanese as a second language, he did not have a native level of mastery in it.

As highlighted previously in this text, these factors were usually influential in how centrally or peripherally people were positioned within the “TEC community.” I never heard Yuta reflect on this himself nor did I often hear others enunciate this subtle differentiation that was often present in discreet but notable ways at TEC gatherings. One such commonly observable differentiating factor were conversations that took place in Japanese which only those with native or near native competency were included while others in close proximity without this linguistic ability were not. This differentiation between Japanese and non-Japanese people at TEC was also manifested via cultural references and activities which, though not categorically destined for exclusively Japanese people, were in practice often aimed at and principally inclusive of this category of people. An example of this was the interspersed presence of Japanese pop culture in conversational references and organized activities. One instance of this that I took part in was the practice and performance of a dance number from a popular Japanese children’s television program as an organized group activity included as part of a Tenrikyo training at TEC designed for young people. Another example was the employment of purposeful emotional stimuli for states such as reverence as they exist with a Japanese framework, including those discussed previously that were congruent with Shinto and Buddhist traditions, and also humor, that was often extremely slapstick in nature. These stimuli were largely culturally bound and thus often did not produce the same affect in people not of this culture.

Also notably present at TEC were the culturally specific ways people engaged in collective emotional displays, such as cheering at specific moments in specific ways, often through clapping

<footnote n="480"><sup>480</sup> Yuta being raised by his father rather than by his Japanese mother is not typical. Usually, the children of Japanese women are raised predominantly by their mother, including in cases of divorce, and thus are generally more inculcated with their mother’s “Japanese side” than Yuta was.</footnote>
and cheering with smiles in a manner that was reflective of Japanese culture. These practices
were a part of the broader Japanese habitus of which most core members of the “TEC
community” were included. Thus, people who were not of this cultural group were often subtly
left to the sidelines through their lack of a developed familiarity and emotional resonance with
them, thereby contributing to the two-tiered nature of this group.

Although not generally discussed, this subtle differentiation was connectedly reflected in
numerous comments made by non-Japanese Tenrikyo followers which displayed an underlying
perception of such a divide. Included in these subtle indications was the occasional use of the
pronoun “they” by non-Japanese followers to refer to the Japanese faction of the TEC
community. Implied with this non-self-inclusive pronoun was that the Japanese people at or
connected to TEC, including people beyond the scope of TEC residential missionaries and
mission station families, comprised the main component of TEC and its social world with non-
Japanese people being positioned at its periphery, largely regardless of how long they had been
coming to TEC or a follower of the religion. As stated previously, such a distinction which
associated one’s nationality (or ethnicity) with the level of implication in and connectedness with
TEC was not purposeful on the part of TEC administration and was contrary to their efforts
aimed at rendering TEC a site culturally and linguistically adapted for the European context in
which it was located and inclusive to all who came, regardless of nationality or culture of origin.
In this, we can see the presence of multiple layers of what it was to be or become a “member” of
the religion and also a “member” of the “TEC community” that spanned far beyond the question
of if a person was a “believer” (shinja: 信者) or if they came to TEC and/or practiced the
centrally important ritual of the Service.

b. The diverse collection of participants coming from inside France

French-language cohort participants: a linguistically based separation reflective of an
in-country/out-of-country residential distinction

The French cohort of the seminar, which I participated in the following year, was an equally
eclectic mix of people. Similar to the small English-speaking group, the students in the French
cohort both years I participated in the program were connected to numerous other sites in addition
to TEC, with this inter-lineage site serving as a gathering point between them. Further adding to the diversity of this small French-language cohort was that not all participants were French (or Japanese), thereby manifesting through this small group the fact that in the context of Tenrikyo in France, the collection of Tenrikyo followers was composed of multiple nationalities that spanned beyond a Japanese-French dichotomy.

For two of the French-cohort participants with whom I took part in the seminar the two years of my participation in it, TEC was their principal Tenrikyo site of worship in France, with their “home site” at which they were born and raised located outside of the European continent. The first year I participated in the program, this referenced follower was from the Republic of the Congo<fnref n="481" /> and the second year, from Korea<fnref n="482" />. The other participants of the French cohort both years I participated in the program were French members of Bordeaux Kyokai.

To provide a more detailed portrayal of the individuals who took part in the French cohort, I will describe in further detail three of the individuals with whom I participated in the French-based cohort. In addition to myself, there were three other participants for the first week of the program: André (the retired French military officer in his mid-sixties mentioned in chapter five), Ji-young (the Korean woman in her mid-thirties previously mentioned who was a regular performer in TEC Monthly Service), and Baptiste (a French man in his mid-thirties who I omit from describing in detail). The second week, an additional participant named Nathalie (a young French woman in her early twenties who, as mentioned previously, I first met while assisting together with the TEC charity rummage sale) joined us for the remaining two weeks of the program<fnref n="483" />.

<footnote n="481">⁴⁸¹ This individual was a Congolese woman whose father was the founding member of the religion's presence in the Republic of the Congo, which officially began in 1966. She lived in France for approximately 20 years before returning to her natal country during my fieldwork and through her long-term involvement with both TEC and the primary Tenrikyo church in the Republic of the Congo, located in Brazzavile, and also through having family members who regularly attend both of these sites, this woman was, in practice, a social bridge between these disparate Tenrikyo locations.</footnote>

<footnote n="482">⁴⁸² There was one French cohort participant who attended part of the program the first year who I did not sufficiently get to know during the seminar and only saw thereafter several times whose “home site” I am do not know.</footnote>

<footnote n="483">⁴⁸³ Officially, because this young woman could not make it to the first week of the seminar, she was categorized as an “auditor” of the course rather than a “participant.” She was included in the end-of-seminar photo that hangs on the TEC wall, but on the paper diploma she received at the end-of-seminar ceremony, rather than indicating that she completed the program, it is stated that she participated as an “auditeur libre” (auditor) in it.</footnote>
The three participants present for the first week had all undergone the necessary rites in Tenri City to become Yoboku. Nathalie, who was the newest member of this group to the faith, was planning to do so several months later, which she then did.

My description of Ji-young is slightly longer than those of the other French-cohort participants for several reasons. Firstly, as the only Paris-based member of this cohort, she was more regularly present at TEC than the other individuals and thus was a more involved and present member of the “TEC community.” Furthermore, she was representative of the diasporic Tenrikyo presence outside of Japan and Europe. Additionally included in my reasoning for dedicating a slightly longer discussion to Ji-young than those of the other cohort participants discussed in this chapter is that André, Nathalie, and Baptiste were all members of Bordeaux Kyokai, thereby rendering them all representative of the smaller community of this French branch church.

## Ji-young: a connector to another diasporic Tenrikyo sphere

Ji-young came to France from Korea approximately ten years prior to the time of my fieldwork for graduate studies and thereafter secured employment in a French company. She was the only Korean Tenrikyo follower in France<fnref n="484" /> during my fieldwork and thus was not representative of a large presence of Korean followers in my research population. She was representative, though, of TEC’s connectedness to the wider Tenrikyo diaspora and also of the significant presence in the TEC religious community of individuals who were neither French nor Japanese. Furthermore, since Korea was one of the main countries outside of Japan to have a presence of Tenrikyo, Ji-young also served as a representative of this other prominent diasporic sphere of the religion.

<footnote n="484">⁴⁸⁴ To the best of my knowledge, there were no other Korean followers in France. During one of the three-day annual youth retreats at TEC, I met a British-Korean teenager whose mother was an ardent follower of Tenrikyo in the UK who could approximately be described as a follower of the religion himself, though his knowledge of or level of integration into the religion was not very developed when I met him.</footnote>
As explained in chapter five, Ji-young grew up in a Tenrikyo site of worship<sup>485</sup> in Korea headed by her mother. Her mother's story of becoming a follower was in line with the historically most common way people not born into the faith became followers of the path by becoming an adherent after receiving healing for a physical ailment through the Sazuke, which in her case, was for an eye ailment. After her adoption of this religion<sup>486</sup>, Ji-young's mother drew others, including many of her relatives, into the faith, who then in accordance with the lineage-based model of Tenrikyo, became members of the “church” she headed. Because Ji-young’s “home site” was based in her mother’s home, even though she had lived abroad for approximately ten years, it did not take any specifically directed effort for her to remain connected to this site and its community of followers, many of whom were her own relatives, in addition to the familial connection she maintained, most specifically with her mother. This built-in connection to one’s “home site” through one’s family who headed or otherwise lived at their lineage-based site of worship as assistants was shared with multiple short and long-term members of the “TEC community” born into such contexts.

Most typically in the Tenrikyo tradition, as the only child of her head minister mother, Ji-young would be next-in-line to take over her mother’s position. However, because Ji-young did not view herself as an appropriate person to take over this role nor did she have the desire to do so, largely due to a lack of a high level of investment in and dedication to the faith, it was planned for someone else to take over this role instead. This lack of conformity to the most prevalent Tenrikyo model of leadership of a lineage-based site being passed from parent to child was something that would not have been as easily accepted in many Tenrikyo families as it was in Ji-young’s. This was reflective of the diversity in numerous domains of the Tenrikyo religion in relation to family and church lineage traditions in concert with individual perspectives. Ji-young’s level of involvement in the religion was principally based on what she judged appropriate for

<footnote n="485">485 I reference this place as a “site of worship” rather than a “mission station” or “church” because Ji-young explained that although in the official Tenrikyo system of categorization, it had not been officially granted the status of being a “church” by Tenrikyo Church Headquarters and remained officially a “mission station,” in practice followers of it considered it to be a “church” and generally did not focus on the official categorical differentiations of Tenrikyo sites of worship.</footnote>

<footnote n="486">486 I refer to Tenrikyo as a “religion” in relation to this Korean context because I specifically discussed the topic of whether Tenrikyo is or is not a “religion” with Ji-young and Ji-young expressed the perspective was most certainly a religion.</footnote>
herself rather than on what was “standard” and this interactional relationship with the religion
was similarly manifested in relation to her involvement at TEC.

As a note about female leadership at Ji-young’s familial church, and extendedly in the religion
more generally, although males usually served in the head minister role, this was not a fixed rule.
Ji-young’s mother was the head of this church because she was the person in this group to first
become a follower of the path, who then spread it to others who later became rooted to this
localized site. If there had been an equivalent male, such as a husband, who had become an
enthusiastic follower alongside Ji-young’s mother willing and able to assume this leadership role,
it would have likely been he who would have assumed this leadership position. As this was not
the case, it was Ji-young’s mother who assumed this role. Similarly, if Ji-young would have had a
brother willing and able to be next-in-line to take on this role, it generally would have been him
positioned as the default successor. Because Ji-young was an only child, though, it was she who
was organizationally positioned as the default successor. When I asked Ji-young about the
presence of female head ministers in Tenrikyo, with particular interest directed toward her
familial church and Tenrikyo in Korea, she told me that Korea is basically similar to other Asian
countries in that if a male is available for a leadership position, then it will generally be him who
is privileged for it, but if there is no male option, then the role can go to a female<fnref n="487" />.

Ji-young regularly served as a performer in TEC Monthly Services and also participated in
various other events held at the center. For these TEC Monthly Services, she usually was
scheduled to perform in the second half of the Service because she sometimes arrived later than
its 10:30 am start time. Akin to her presence at TEC Monthly Services often not being for the

<footnote n="487">⁴⁸⁷ The flexibility in gendered leadership where the role of head minister was sometimes assumed by a woman, most often because there was not a structurally equivalent male to assume the position, was something I occasionally observed to exist at Tenrikyo sites in Europe, Japan, and the United States as well. This structurally contextual flexibility was also present in a broader Japanese cultural framework in relation to the household system in which males would generally be privileged as the person through which a lineage would be continued and as the acting “head” of the group when possible, but with room for variation, such as when only a daughter was available as the successor. In my observations at TEC, although males were generally more often in visible leadership roles and sources of authority on the religion, this tendency was not absolute. An example of this can be found in Mary’ serving as a seminar instructor alongside numerous males teaching the other seminar classes and TEC Monthly Service sermons being more commonly delivered by men, but also less frequently also by women. In this, we can an example of variation and adaptation that was a common theme that ran throughout my research context.</footnote>
entirety of the ceremony, her semi-regular participation in other TEC activities was also in a way
that worked in combination with the rest of her life, rather than in an all-encompassing manner.
For example, although she performed in TEC Monthly Services almost every month, she did not
come to TEC the day prior to help with the preparation of the post-Service meal nor to take part
in the rehearsal of the ritual. Similarly, she only came to one day of the annual three-day
European Tenrikyo youth retreat of “Palette” the year we took part in it together<sup>488</sup> because that
was what worked best for her in relation to other aspects in her life.

In the case of her participation in the European seminar, she chose to only participate in the first
two weeks of the program so that she could use some of her summer vacation time not only to
deepen her relationship to and understanding of her religion, but also to go on holiday in the
south of France. In general, Ji-young's approach to religious activities was one of balance in
which she accorded importance to both her religion and also to other components of her life
outside of Tenrikyo that she also viewed as important. In an interview about six months prior to
our joint participation in the seminar, she explained that she came to Monthly Services at TEC
because although she knew how to be a good person and how to live, they reminded her of what
she already knew. Despite the fact that Ji-young expressed to accord her religion a position of
importance in her own life, she did not overly invest herself in its missionary efforts nor did she
position the “TEC community” as the primary source of her social life in France. In general, such
partial social investment and belonging in the social community of TEC was more common
amongst non-Japanese followers, who regardless of nationality, were a cultural and linguistic
minority at TEC.

Ji-young had already participated in the largely parallel three-month spiritual development
program in Korea when she was in her early twenties which covered approximately the same
material as the European Seminar. Ten years after she took part in this training in Korea, she
chose to participate in the seminar at TEC both to deepen her understanding of the faith and to
engage in a study of her religion in a culturally and linguistically different context than that of her
home country. She did not specify any further regarding why she chose to take part in the
European seminar after she had already completed the longer three-month program in her home

<footnote n="488">⁴⁸⁸ I took part in the “Palette” youth retreat twice.</footnote>
country and had also already attended the nine identical Besseki lectures which also covered the
basic tenets of the faith. The culturally and linguistically associated reasons she cited for wanting
to participate in the European Seminar were in accordance with the explanations offered by other
followers who had already taken part in a similar training in their home country but chose to
participate in the European Seminar.

Like other followers at TEC, Ji-young's affiliation with the religion and with its "members" was
not only through TEC but also, and principally, through her "home site," which in her case was in
Korea. Included below is a diagram of her connection to both TEC and to her church in Korea,
which was in turn organizationally linked with its supervising "parent" grand church in Japan.
Through both TEC and her "home site," she was connected ultimately to Tenrikyo Church
Headquarters (i.e. the central organizing and spiritual central point of the religion). In this
diagram, we can see the transnational nature of Ji-young's connections to Tenrikyo and her
addition to the transnational nature of the "TEC community" through her connection to
Tenrikyo's presence in Korea.

<figure><img src="image_26.png" /><figcaption>Figure 6: Organizational and affiliational connections between Ji-young and sites with which she was connected.</figcaption></figure>
*André: an outspoken French follower's appreciation of and opposition to various aspects of the Tenrikyo religious scene*

André, the Frenchman in his mid-sixties who was retired from the military, came to know Tenrikyo and became a follower of the path approximately ten years prior to the time of my fieldwork. He was introduced to the religion through a French friend he knew through other spiritual pursuits, such as reiki. When André first became involved in this religion, he was living in Bordeaux and was an active member of the church and its connected community while there. He later relocated to a town approximately halfway between Bordeaux and Paris for familial reasons. He remained somewhat involved with Bordeaux Kyokai and sometimes came to TEC, but was not able to visit either as much as he would have liked due to the distance between his home and both of these sites. Regarding his infrequent presence at Bordeaux Kyokai during the time of my fieldwork, he told me he missed the church and its community, with particular emphasis placed on the social side of Bordeaux Kyokai being what he missed. Similarly, he placed significant emphasis on the social side of TEC regarding the aspects that he viewed both positively and negatively, demonstrating that it was not only the teachings and religious practices of the faith that were of focus in his involvement in these site-based spheres of Tenrikyo, but also, and perhaps more importantly, their social sides.

When we participated in the French cohort of the seminar together, it was André's fifth time to take part in the program, the most of any seminar participant since the program's inception. André explained to me that every time he participated in the seminar, he got something different out of it which helped him deepen his understanding of the faith and its teachings. He also indicated that he came to the seminar year after year because he enjoyed the communal atmosphere of the residential program with its emphasis on spiritual development, despite his often being in vocal opposition to various aspects of the religion. Often when speaking of TEC, he made comments regarding the kindness of the core Japanese members of the “TEC community,” which he invariably referred to as “they” and “them”: othering terms of reference that he used to refer to (Japanese) Tenrikyo followers more generally despite his own religious identity also being that of Tenrikyo. In this, his perception of his perpetual partial exteriority due to his non-Japaneseness was expressed. He was vocal about his appreciation of the communal ambiance that came about at TEC during the religious events held there which functioned,
amongst other capacities, as reunions between dispersed followers. Connectedly, he lamented to me at one such event that there used to be more people who came to this annual event and that the ambiance just wasn't the same that year, thereby demonstrating that the community atmosphere of such gatherings was a key factor of importance for him in coming to TEC for such occasions.

In relation to André's appreciation, and lack of appreciation, for various aspects of the Tenrikyo religion and of TEC, I would like to come back to his abstention from wearing a happi coat for a year out of protest to what he expressed to view as a dominating overlay of Japanese culture onto the Tenrikyo religion as it exists in this French context that I briefly evoked in chapter five. His sartorial protest was instigated by what he perceived to be an inappropriate orchestration of an important event held at TEC by locally living staff familiar with French cultural norms. For this event, important visiting officials were there from Japan and to André, this led to the local French cultural context being ignored in favor of conformity with the social structure of Tenrikyo as it exists in Japan.

More precisely, it was what he viewed to be a grossly inappropriate hierarchical differentiation between visiting high-ranking officials and the general collection of followers in attendance. His enunciated opposition was largely directed toward the fact that the high-ranking officials were formally seated for their dinner and the remaining duration of the evening while everyone else milled about standing and serving themselves from buffet-style tables onto disposable plates and cups. For André, this was an affront to both the foundress' teaching that all humans are equal and also an affront to the French value of equality that he stressed multiple times when we discussed this issue of contention by saying, "We already cut off the king's head in France." In saying this, he meant that the hierarchical differentiation between nobles and peasants that he perceived to be present in this scene, and more generally as a common component of Tenrikyo as it exists in Japan, was not appropriate in France.

André's objection to what he viewed as a high level of hierarchy in the religion, which he adamantly asserted to not have come from the foundress' teachings but rather from "feudal" Japanese culture, was not relegated exclusively to this event. Though he was officially connected to the grand church which served as the parent church of Bordeaux Kyokai, he did not appreciate Tenrikyo's lineage system and moreover the hierarchical position of this grand church's head and
those closely connected to him<fnref n="489" />, whom he asserted to me on numerous occasions to “live like kings<fnref n="490" />.”

When André went to Japan with others from Bordeaux Kyokai to become Yoboku, they visited this grand church and were treated as honored guests, such as for example by being served a lavish and expensive dinner. From André's perspective, because grand churches were economically supported by donations given by followers of its lineage, he skeptically viewed this hospitality not as a free gift, but rather as an investment made in order to later gain significant economic donations from this Bordeaux group. André was the only follower who openly enunciated to me such a perspective regarding his lack of appreciation to what to him was an excessive amount of hierarchical differentiation, particularly in the French context in which he was a follower, but I heard from him on numerous occasions that such a view was also held by “others” of Bordeaux Kyokai. Included in this, for example, was André telling me that although numerous French followers attached to Bordeaux Kyokai held a similar perspective regarding the organizational system of Tenrikyo being overly hierarchical in which often those in positions of important rank were accorded an inappropriately high position in relation to general followers. In contrast to André, though, I did not myself hear others openly express this opinion.

Relatedly, one of our seminar instructors, who was a prominent member of the “TEC community” born and raised at a small (and poor) Tenrikyo branch church in Japan where his father had served as head minister, spoke to us about complications that sometimes arose in the religion due to the importance placed on one’s lineage which sometimes came into conflict with one’s relationship with the faith. He related an instance in which there was a female Japanese Tenrikyo follower experiencing health problems which she spoke about to the head minister of her church. In order to arrive at a solution to these problems, the head minister told her that she should make a monetary offering to the faith, which in Tenrikyo usually meant a monetary offering made to one’s “home site.” A portion of this offered money was kept by the receiving “home site,” and a portion was passed to its supervising church, which in turn then kept a portion

<footnote n="489">⁴⁸⁹ André referred to these people collectively as “they,” though whom precisely “they” referenced was never precisely defined but was presumably the head minister’s family and grand church officials.</footnote>

<footnote n="490">⁴⁹⁰ I would like to note, I can neither affirm nor refute this due to my complete lack of knowledge on the matter.</footnote>
and passed the rest on to its supervising church in like manner until, depending on how many supervising layers of its lineage there were, the remaining portion arrived at the central entity of the religion: Tenrikyo Church Headquarters.

In accordance with her head minister's council, this woman made a monetary offering to the faith via her "home site" but was not relieved of her ailment. She again went to see her head minister. He told her that the monetary offering she made had not been adequate and that she must make another economic offering as an expression of her sincerity. She was upset by this, largely because from her perspective, much of the money previously given had been used by the head minister and those close to him for their own enjoyment rather than for the benefit of the church or the larger religious body. As her head minister remained unwavering in his council, she chose to leave the religion because, though technically possible, excluding in cases of marriage, it was quite rare and potentially difficult to change lineages. Thus, in reaction to her being in strong disagreement with the leadership of her "home site" which made her no longer wish to be a member of it, she chose to leave the religion as a solution to this disaccord.

Our instructor related to us that he thought this was really too bad because it was an instance of human problems getting in the way of this woman following the path of Tenrikyo, which at a base level, our instructor explained, was something bestowed by God the Parent rather than something based primarily in the realm of human thinking, which is often flawed. He further added that in Tenrikyo, when one makes an offering, what is important is the giving from oneself and thus, ideally, one should not be concerned with what happens to the money thereafter; what is important is that one made the offering. (As I heard it explained by numerous others, by making an offering, some of one's greed, which I remind the reader is one of the "eight dusts," was swept away.)

In saying this, though, this instructor spoke about that in his own view, the leadership of some Tenrikyo churches did, in fact, use the money received from monetary offerings in an inappropriate manner, with too much in some cases used for their own lavish enjoyment. He talked about his own personal lack of agreement with this and a connected sense of injustice that he sometimes felt while growing up with how the religious organization was operated in certain contexts. More specifically, this sentiment was directed towards the fact that there could be
significant discrepancies between hierarchically different layers of a lineage in which some branch churches (which included the family of its head minister) were quite poor but nonetheless (socially and through tradition) were obliged to give a portion of the money they received through offerings from its followers to its supervising church. This sometimes contributed, depending on the particular lineage and leadership involved, to a situation in which some families operating small branch churches were impoverished but obliged to give a significant portion of their meager funds to their supervising church, whose leadership enjoyed a comparatively luxurious situation largely thanks to the money they received from their subordinate churches.

This instructor's key point of reference in relating this was the small and relatively poor branch church at which he was raised in comparison to its supervising grand church he visited throughout his youth that was significantly better off economically. While saying this, he maintained that in the domain of making offerings, because this gesture was done as a symbolic expression of one's gratitude to God the Parent and for one's own spiritual growth (which was positioned in the religion as inseparable from one's physical well-being), one should not be concerned with how this money is used. This is because it is supposed to be made for spiritually based symbolic reasons rather than for functional, infrastructural purposes.

While André's skepticism of certain aspects of the religion, including its social hierarchy and its economic functioning in certain contexts, was not often expressed by other members of the “TEC community,” there were occasionally small indications, such as through the aforementioned comments made by this instructor, which indicated that some of André's views may be more discretely widespread than what was displayed on the surface. Despite this general lack of open discussion on certain components of Tenrikyo which some followers may not have appreciated, or may have disapproved of, discrete indications that such sentiments may be more present than what was in most cases overtly observable were also occasionally present in my fieldwork, for example, by such perspectives sometimes being mentioned to be held “by someone else.” Two principle reasons for this was the emphasis in both Japanese and Tenrikyo culture placed on not committing actions that may cause disharmony in the group and also on not speaking poorly of others. Most followers connected to TEC, largely regardless of whether or not they were Japanese, adhered to this collective norm. Contrastingly, André's robust declarations brought certain sentiments that may also have been held by others but not openly expressed into focus.
As mentioned previously, the 22-year-old French woman named Nathalie who joined the seminar for its second and third weeks was also a member of Bordeaux Kyokai. In contrast to André, though, it was not through this church that she was initially introduced to the faith. Rather, her own introduction to the religion was through her Japanese Tenrikyo boyfriend who she met while he was on exchange from Tenri University to the Université d'Orléans<fnref n="491" />, at which time Nathalie was studying Japanese and English there. Though the young man who would become her boyfriend did not initially speak with Nathalie a great deal about Tenrikyo, it was an important part of his life. As the eldest son of a Tenrikyo church in Japan headed by his father, he was next-in-line to occupy its head minister role. In contrast to Ji-young who also the “normal” heir to this leadership position, his lifepath was more predetermined<fnref n="492" />, thereby rendering the religion a prominent part of his present and future life in a very tangible way.

During the seminar, at which time highly personal and in-depth conversations were commonplace, Nathalie explained that according to her boyfriend's family, specifically his mother, it was imperative that he marry a Tenrikyo follower. This was his *innen*<fnref n="493" />. Accordingly, if she wanted to marry him, it would be necessary for her to become a follower of the path. Though the view his mother expressed was undoubtedly for multiple reasons, one was pragmatically because the operation of a Tenrikyo site of worship was regarded as ideally a joint effort between husband and wife through their serving in complementary roles.

Despite the importance of Nathalie becoming a follower of the path expressed by her potential future mother-in-law should she want to marry into this family, Nathalie did not express this to have been the principal reason for which she embraced the faith. Instead, the reasons she presented for having become a follower were a mix of viewing it as her *innen*, with the circumstances of how she met her boyfriend included in this conceptualized unfolding of her destiny in concert with the positive feelings she had through both the ritual components of the

<footnote n="491">⁴⁹¹ As mentioned in chapter three, there was an exchange program between these schools.</footnote>

<footnote n="492">⁴⁹² This assessment is based on comments made by Nathalie on the matter.</footnote>

<footnote n="493">⁴⁹³ *Innen*: Tenrikyo term which can be translated approximately to “causality” or to draw a comparative with other traditions, “karmic destiny”.</footnote>
religion and the general Tenrikyo culture of working together and helping others. In sum, the
primary reason Nathalie presented for embracing the religion was the positive benefits she
regarded it as being capable of bringing to her life.

Nathalie was initially exposed to a Tenrikyo site of worship when she and her boyfriend stayed at
a Paris-based mission station<fnref n="494" /> operated by Japanese family friends of the same church lineage
as her boyfriend’s at which the Service was performed with regularity each morning and evening.
Through this, Nathalie developed an affinity for the ritual. Slightly later, she came with her
boyfriend to TEC to help with its charity rummage sale and thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance of
working together joyously to help others. While there for this event, she again encountered the
Service and experienced a positive sense of nostalgia, which she described to me in a
conversation we were having in French with the Japanese words of, “*ii naa, nastukashii*”: a
simple Japanese expression that translates approximately to, “Oh that’s nice, it’s nostalgically
familiar<fnref n="495" />.” Her use of Japanese was reflective of how she experienced that moment and also
how she thought to express those feelings when we were talking about it later.

The Japanese expression she employed, for which it is difficult to find a commonplace French
equivalent<fnref n="496" />, was reflective of her absorption of elements of “Japaneseness” into her global
conception of that experience and of being involved with the religion. It demonstrated a
linguistically-linked experiential schema of her emotional experiences in relation to Tenrikyo that
were not only linked to those commonly expressible in her native language of French, but also
some which, for her, were experienced and most easily expressible in Japanese. This
“Japanification” was no doubt influenced by her being in a relationship with a Japanese man and
through time spent with other Japanese people in multiple contexts. It was also developed through
her studies of the Japanese language which extended into the present and immediate future as she
was pursuing a master’s degree in linguistics with a focus on the Japanese language, with her
upcoming year of studies scheduled to take place in Japan. It was also developed through her

<footnote n="494">⁴⁹⁴ This mission station, similar to all other mission stations in Europe, was home-based.</footnote>

<footnote n="495">⁴⁹⁵ This Japanese expression is commonly used in casual contexts.</footnote>

<footnote n="496">⁴⁹⁶ The meaning of these words is easily translatable, but the common use of them, including intonation, as they exist within their larger cultural context is not included in doing so, thus the culturally situated feeling associated with this phrase is only partially conveyed.</footnote>
practice and study of Tenrikyo. In her academic studies and her religious involvement, she was actively making efforts to be trained in their respective systems, with both closely linked to Japanese culture. Thus, her "Japanification" which extended to the language through which certain experiences were linguistically framed was reasonably a mix of conscious and unconscious factors.

In her actions and in her discourse, other markers of moving towards an adoption of other aspects of the culture were also displayed. For example, sometimes during the Morning and Evening Services, rather than sitting on one of the chairs in the TEC sanctuary that were an adaptation for this European context, she sometimes kneeled in the back, often along with several Japanese followers, for its performance. She also expressed appreciation for the assumption of traditional Japanese gender roles, particularly in the context of marriage, which were commonly present in Japanese Tenrikyo contexts. Most prominent, though, was her enactment of small, everyday behaviors and embodied displays such as facial expressions and bodily movements that were subtly more reflective of a Japanese display of emotion and mode of sociality than a French one. Nathalie's "Japaneseness" was something I heard commented on by multiple members of the TEC community. For example, André remarked to me that she was "more Japanese than the Japanese" (a statement which was less than complimentary on his part, but paired with saying that she was quite young, thereby implying that he viewed her adopted Japaneseness to be linked to her youth that would likely lessen with time). Several Japanese women at TEC echoed this statement later, though in their case with positive connotations, by saying that although she was French, she was very much like a Japanese person.

After Nathalie became increasingly involved with and interested in the Tenrikyo faith, the question of which "home site" she would join presented itself. This need to have a "home site" was because, among other reasons, one must be rooted to one in order to attend the Besseki lectures necessary to become a Yoboku, which she wished to do. Furthermore, when in Tenri City, having a "home site" accorded one a place of belonging in a particular church lineage which was associated, among other benefits, with having a designated church followers' dormitory<fnref n="497" /> to stay at while in this pilgrimage town. Since it was through her boyfriend that she was introduced

<footnote n="497">⁴⁹⁷ Guests, such as people studying judo under a Tenrikyo person, also stay at dormitories even though they're not followers.</footnote>
to the faith, she could have become a member of his church and its connected lineage, in
accordance with the general rule that new followers join the site of worship of the person who
introduced them to the faith. Instead, she chose to become a member of Bordeaux Kyokai.

During a long walk after dinner one evening of the seminar, she explained that she had
significantly contemplated which site of worship to join before reaching her decision of Bordeaux
Kyokai. Upon reflection, she decided it would be best if she did not join her boyfriend's church.
This conclusion was largely based on the fact that one's church membership is permanent<fnref n="498" />.
Nathalie was serious about becoming a follower of Tenrikyo out of her own desire to do so, not
merely because it would please her Tenrikyo boyfriend and his family. She felt cautious about
joining her boyfriend's church, since even if the relationship with her boyfriend ended, she would
remain a member of his familial church where he was foreseen to inherit the role of being its head
minister. She saw this as a potentially undesirable situation should they break up. If they did
marry in the future, she would join his lineage, but until then, she decided it would be best to be
based at a different "home site."

In thinking about which lineage-based site in France to join, Nathalie told me that she decided as
a French/Western person, it made sense to have her "home site" be the French/Western one of
Bordeaux Kyokai<fnref n="499" /> where both the head minister and the majority of its followers were
Westerners, which she described as being better adapted to her culturally. That she was pursuing
her graduate studies in Bordeaux, a location in France of significant distance from where she was
born, raised, and had been living previously, facilitated her regular presence at Bordeaux Kyokai.
During the year prior to her participation in the seminar which coincided with her first year of
studies in Bordeaux, she participated in its daily and Monthly Services and also in the study
sessions held there prior to its Evening Service where the church's head minister taught the
sacred dances in association with their underlying meanings. While we were talking about
Nathalie's experience of becoming a Tenrikyo follower, she noted that she did not herself grow

<footnote n="498">⁴⁹⁸ As previously explained, Tenrikyo women who marry Tenrikyo men from a different lineage become part of the husband's household and lineage, thus Tenrikyo women are commonly part of two different church lineages during their lifetime.</footnote>

<footnote n="499">⁴⁹⁹ All the mission stations in Paris, which is located approximately 110 kilometers from Nathalie's hometown, and thus the closest possible options to join, were all headed by Japanese people.</footnote>
up in a religious household but was quite fortunate that her parents were open minded; as long as it was not harmful, which they did not view her involvement in the Tenrikyo religion to be, they were not opposed to her becoming a follower of it.

Despite the fact that Nathalie's most overt reason for becoming a Tenrikyo follower was the prominent place it held in her boyfriend's life, similar to many other followers, she too, indicated the view that the most common reason people joined the faith as being in response to a problem. After I commented to Nathalie that I appreciated that the head minister of Bordeaux Kyokai seemed to accept my position as a researcher rather than as a follower, Nathalie replied that this is normal because most people are drawn to Tenrikyo because it helps them address a problem. If I am approaching Tenrikyo from an academic perspective rather than to solve a personal problem, it is normal that I would not become a follower myself because there would be no compelling reason to do so. Although this seemed like a reasonable statement, I was a little surprised to hear it from Nathalie, herself a new follower.

Nathalie and I stayed somewhat in touch via Facebook after the seminar during her year in Japan. During the first part of her stay in Japan, though slightly later than planned, she became a Yoboku. Then, she went again to Tenri City numerous times when her schedule allowed, which I was often made aware of through smiling pictures of her there with Japanese friends that I saw on the social networking site referenced previously. Her university in Japan was located in a small town that was also the hometown of one of the core local members of TEC, Mr. Takeshita, who served as one of our seminar instructors. While in Japan, not only did Nathalie have connections previously formed in Europe to the parental grand church of Bordeaux Kyokai and to her boyfriend's church, but she had also received an expression of being welcome to spend time at Mr. Takeshita's home church while on exchange in his hometown. Thus, before ever setting foot on Japanese soil, she had multiple potential networks of connection via relationships formed in Europe with Tenrikyo followers. This is a contextualizing example of the TEC community's unbound and interconnected nature which included the existence of a complex matrix of intertwined relationships that spanned out from the specific context of TEC to the broader realm of Tenrikyo as it existed in other locations.
### c. Representing the religion and its connected social world through seminar instructors

#### Visiting seminar instructors from outside of Europe: links between TEC and the greater transnational context of Tenrikyo

Each of the two years I participated in the seminar, an overseas guest instructor was brought to TEC to help instruct a portion of the English-language program. Both of the visiting instructors for the English-based classes were Japanese-Americans, thereby demonstrating the prominence of the US in the English-language sphere of Tenrikyo and also of the interconnectedness between TEC (and the sphere of Tenrikyo in Europe) and the sphere of Tenrikyo in the US. The first year of my participation in this program, it was Mary<sup>500</sup> who came from Hawaii to serve in this role. The second year, it was a man named Mr. Okuhira who was born and raised in California to Japanese missionary parents and moved to Tenri City<sup>501</sup> as an adult where he taught at Tenri University.

Neither of these guest instructors were experienced instructors of such “spiritual development” trainings, but both were experienced in teaching in an academic context, as was noted in written references to their serving as guest instructors in the European Seminar. Their occupation in the role of teaching in this structured Tenrikyo training provided them with the experience of serving in this capacity, thereby according to Tenrikyo discourse, encouraging their own spiritual development through their efforts to help others learn more about the faith and progress spiritually. Additionally, their coming to the European Seminar as guest instructors also connected them with TEC and its social world through the time they spent there in connection with the nature of their involvement in a program structured to encourage deep personal reflection and a social connectedness between those present.

Mary had undergone a Tenrikyo lay ministers’ training course in Tenri City and was thus qualified to serve in certain leadership positions within the faith, though she had not previously.

<footnote n="500"><sup>500</sup> Mary was the only female instructor during the two years I participated in the program, which was in accordance with the tendency for women to serve in supportive roles and men to serve as instructors.</footnote>

<footnote n="501"><sup>501</sup> Additionally, during the second year of my participation, a German-speaking guest instructor from Japan who had studied in Germany was also brought to TEC to teach a portion of the German program that was held for the first time at TEC.</footnote>
She was, though, accustomed to functioning in the role of an instructor because she worked at a community college in Hawaii where she taught early childhood education classes after having first taught preschool for a significant number of years. Mary's chief Tenrikyo affiliation was to her "home site" in Hawaii, where her father and then later her brother served as its head minister<sup>502</sup>. Her secondary Tenrikyo affiliation was to the greater Hawaiian Tenrikyo community, where there were numerous Tenrikyo churches<sup>503</sup> and also an inter-lineage site similar to TEC which brought together followers living in various parts of this island state together and was categorized by the Tenrikyo Overseas Department as a different organizational sphere than that of the continental US. Each of Mary's two visits to TEC<sup>504</sup> as a visiting seminar instructor, both of which lasted a little over three weeks, connected her to TEC and numerous people associated with this center. Similar to many others who passed through this European center and came to know members of its community, she maintained a connection with this center and with members of its community thereafter. Thus, although Mary never lived in Europe, she, too, was included in TEC's interconnected web of social relations and likewise, in its social story.

I include hereafter a diagram which illustrates Mary’s connectedness to her “home site” in Hawaii, the grand church in Japan that was the official “parent” church of Mary’s “home site” (though in practice, Mary was not very connected with this overseeing church), the greater Hawaiian and North American Tenrikyo spheres which were each grouped together by an overseeing regional center but in my observations maintained a certain level of social interconnectedness<sup>505</sup>, TEC (and the “TEC community,”) and Tenrikyo Church Headquarters and the Overseas Department of which it was a part, that was the overseeing organizational body of

<footnote n="502">502 In reference to her brother taking over this position, which he had not actually initially wished to do and experienced significant difficulties in his initial years of taking on this responsibility, she noted that she had never been considered for the position (as a woman).</footnote>

<footnote n="503">503 This is largely due to the influx of Japanese migrants to Hawaii around the turn of the 19th century beginning in the 1880s.</footnote>

<footnote n="504">504 Mary came to TEC to serve as a visiting seminar instructor two years previously. Because there were no students in the English cohort the first year she came, and thus she did not have the opportunity to teach, she was invited again the year she was my instructor.</footnote>

<footnote n="505">505 In the diagram, the interconnectedness between the North American and Hawaiian spheres is depicted with the openness between the two circles.</footnote>
TEC and similar regional centers outside of Japan. Also included in this diagram are the official direct connections between sites, along with the unofficial social connections at work.

<figure><img src="image_27.png" /><figcaption>Figure 7: Multidirectional official and unofficial connections between Mary and sites/spheres with which she was connected.</figcaption></figure>

In like manner, Mr. Okuhira also contributed to the transnational character of TEC through his temporary presence there. Mr. Okuhira was born and raised in southern California. His father, a Japanese Tenrikyo convert, moved to California from Japan as a young man to spread Tenrikyo as a missionary after he became an enthusiastic member of the faith due to it helping him overcome non-physical difficulties in his life through encouraging him to understand his life differently. Mr. Okuhira's father initially founded a mission station in California, which developed into a church, where Mr. Okuhira spent his young years. Growing up, he was part of the Tenrikyo community in California and during the time we spent together at the seminar, I heard numerous stories about his involvement in the Tenrikyo community where he was raised, including but not limited to the US Tenrikyo Mission Headquarters in Los Angeles<fnref n="506" />.

<footnote n="506">⁵⁰⁶ This LA-based Mission Headquarters was categorically similar to TEC, though different in both size and historical context, with the former founded in 1934 and the latter in 1970.</footnote>
After the first part of his life spent in the US and before moving to Japan, Mr. Okuhira lived in Europe to pursue a doctorate in religious studies, producing a thesis on a Tenrikyo-centered topic. During this time, he was connected to TEC, which I learned of through his speaking about his previous time of being at TEC in the Monthly Service sermon he delivered when there as a seminar instructor. After completing his doctorate, he moved to Tenri City and assumed a teaching position at Tenri University. Though his primary connections to Tenrikyo communities were in the US and Japan, he also had a connection to the European Tenrikyo community and connectedly to TEC through the time he spent in Europe during his studies, a connection which was renewed when he came back to TEC as an instructor for the seminar. During the duration of over three weeks for which he was at TEC in this capacity, he spent time with numerous members of the TEC community, including individuals he initially met thirty years previously when he first came to this European center. Moreover, his membership in the greater international Tenrikyo community in which the US and European spheres were close cousins also linked him to TEC.

The presence of these visiting instructors coming from locations outside of Europe added to the
transcontinental ambiance of the social world that existed at TEC during the seminar, leaving the
memory and impact of their presence which included the connection they brought with them to
the greater transnational Tenrikyo social world to which TEC was linked. Considering that the
participation fee of thirty euros per week was not enough to cover the cost of the food participants
ate<fnref n="507" />, with the rest of the program financed by Tenrikyo Church Headquarters (which also
financed the center of TEC itself), the significant expense of bringing people from overseas
locations to help teach a very small group of students is noteworthy. This is both because it
provides a pointed example of the significant level of effort and resources invested into Tenrikyo
prostelization efforts in Europe and also the importance placed on maintaining connectedness
between disparate Tenrikyo locations, particularly between certain linked geographic areas, such
as that of Europe with the US, and also to the principal location where this religion was based,
Japan. It also illustrates the purposefully fostered connectedness between certain linguistic

<footnote n="507">⁵⁰⁷ This was a conclusion I easily came to on my own from being aware of local food prices but was not something I ever heard any staff or core members of TEC mention.</footnote>
spheres, such as that of English-speaking followers, which I discuss in relation to the forum organized for this internationally connected sphere of followers in chapter ten.

*European-based seminar instructors: core members of the TEC community who serve as connectors to the broader European sphere of the religion*

The European-based seminar instructors, too, were an eclectic group of people coming from multiple locations. Most had been part of the “TEC community” for a while and furthermore, most also headed lineage-based sites of worship in their homes. Some were part of this community through living in the Paris area. Other instructors, which included men coming from the UK, two from other regions of France, and one from Germany<fnref n="508" />, were non-local long-term core members of the “TEC community,” mainly via distance, but also punctuated by time spent at the center as well through time spent together elsewhere, namely in Tenri City.

During the two years I participated in the program, all but two of the European-based seminar instructors were Japanese men. The outliers were the head minister of Bordeaux Kyokai and the British man, Thomas, who assumed the leadership position as head of Tenrikyo UK Centre. This predominant representation of the teachings being conveyed by Japanese followers that was likewise mirrored in the predominance of Japanese performers in TEC Monthly Services was not a purposeful preferencing of Japanese people in prominent roles because of a nationality-based hierarchy in the religion and/or at TEC. Rather, it was representative of the present state of the religion in France and in Europe. On several occasions, in fact, I was exposed to efforts made to include more Europeans amongst the seminar instructors, such as Yuta<fnref n="509" /> who chose instead to initially attend the seminar as a participant in order to gain a deeper understanding of the religion before taking on this teaching role. Similarly, the following year, I observed a small push to include André, who as described previously was not a fully conforming member of Tenrikyo, through a comment made by one of our instructors in a joking, yet serious, way that it would be him teaching part of the seminar the following year. To this remark, André laughed slightly and

<footnote n="508">⁵⁰⁸ This person assisted with the study of the Service instruments the first year and also with the book-based classes the second year of my participation in the seminar when there was a German-language cohort.</footnote>

<footnote n="509">⁵⁰⁹ In this instance, I am referring to Yuta as “European” despite his mixed heritage and that he also spent multiple years living in Japan because he was raised primarily by his English father, had spent the majority of his life in the UK, and English was his primary native language.</footnote>
said that he didn't know things well enough (on the religion) to do that, thereby effectively
evading this invitation to functionally move into a role generally associated with the inner core
group of TEC.

Among the four classroom instructors of the French cohort the year of my participation in it,
excluding the French head of Bordeaux Kyokai, all were Japanese men who had come to France
initially as missionaries who lived in the Paris area and were core members of the TEC
community. More specifically, one was Mr. Kawakubo, the head of TEC. Another was Mr.
Takeshita, who came to France first as a residential missionary teacher to ACFJT, where he
continued to work as a full time employee, who I discussed extensively in chapter two in relation
to the numerous ways being a “member” of Tenrikyo can be defined: an explanation I heard in a
class during this seminar. The third was the most senior of these instructors. He did not initially
come to France as a missionary teacher of ACFJT, but rather as one of the 1968 “Araki
Toryogosha Eurasian Missionary Tour” Tenrikyo Young Men’s Association delegates who drove
through twenty-nine countries in Asia and Europe in two Japanese cars to spread the faith,
eventually arriving in Paris. From his long-term presence and the multiple key roles that he held
over the years, this individual was a notably rich source of insight into the long-term history of
TEC and the broader “TEC community.”

Moreover, regarding the long-term presence of core members of TEC, in the composition of these
French-cohort instructors, the connection between the short-term, highly local core members of
the “TEC community” composed primarily of young adult residential missionary teachers
scheduled to serve several year terms and the long-term core members of this community, who
often headed mission stations and served, along with their wives, in key roles at TEC was clearly
manifested. Although the statute of such core members often changed over time, for those who
stayed in France, their central position in the “TEC community” remained largely the same<fnref n="510" />.

Somewhat contrastingly, none of the UK-based instructors of the English cohort the year I
participated in this group had lived at TEC or taught at ACFJT, but, similar to the French cohort

<footnote n="510">⁵¹⁰ I would like to note that the previous year, when I participated in the English cohort, there were several more instructors than during my year of participation the French cohort. Similarly, all were Japanese male “core” members of the TEC community living in France.</footnote>
instructors, they did host mission stations at their homes in the UK, regularly came to TEC, and
were otherwise highly involved in the Tenrikyo scene of Europe. In addition to the British
instructor discussed previously, the UK-based instructors of the academically structured classes
in English were composed of two UK-based families. One of these families, as noted previously
in chapter six, was represented through the three sons of the Yagishita missionary family who
each taught a class during a separate week of the program, along with their younger sister and
mother, who each served in a supportive role for one week.

The other family was a Japanese couple in their eighties who were based in the UK but had
previously spent a number of years in California, during which time they developed a connection
with the Tenrikyo scene in California and in the United States. The husband served as head of
their home-based mission station and also as the acting head of Tenrikyo UK Centre until the
previously referenced British follower assumed this role. In their partnered teaching of the text-
based classes on the sacred dances of the Service, this couple assumed the task in a typical
Tenrikyo manner of joint efforts made by husbands and wives, or more generally, by men and
women, which was also reflective of Japanese culture more broadly in which the husband served
in the more authoritative and vocal role as the principal instructor (in accordance with his male
position as the “sky”) while the wife occupied a more reserved role (in accordance with her
foundational role as the “earth,”) often listening, and sharing information, personal experiences,
and demonstrations of the dances when the husband requested this of her<fnref n="511" />.

Along with the women discussed in the previous chapter who served in the foundational role of
the seminar through preparing meals and other such functions, these instructors were largely
representative of the long-term social nucleus of the “TEC community” in which becoming
involved in this social group was largely analogous with coming to know at least some of the
core members who served as seminar staff. Among other characteristics, most were Japanese, and
all had spent significant amounts of time in Tenri City. This experiential connection to this
pilgrimage town was a key element in serving in such a representational role of the religion and
was also a key factor in being a core member of the “TEC community.” The next section of this

<footnote n="511">⁵¹¹ In one-on-one interactions with this woman, she spoke as a wise and knowing authority, thereby suggesting that her deference to her husband was based on tradition and the assumption of social roles rather than a lack of knowledge or confidence.</footnote>
thesis is dedicated primarily to an exploration of Tenri City, its role in relation to the “TEC community,” and its central place in Tenrikyo.
# Section IV: “Becoming Tenrikyo” in Tenri City: the centrally important component of the TEC community located on the other side of the world

## Section introduction

Although my research was focused on a primarily European-based social world, in order to have a global understanding of this group, it is necessary to shift our analytic lens to also include the pilgrimage town of Tenri City located halfway across the world from TEC. In this final section of my thesis, I will demonstrate the interconnectedness between these two locations and that the “TEC community” was largely a bi-local social world. It was largely associated with lived and affiliational connections to TEC and being based in Europe, but also would not have been what it was without lived and imaginary connections to and collectively shared experiences in this pilgrimage town. Being connected to the Tenrikyo faith in Europe meant being connected to Tenri City. It was this ongoing connection, regardless of one’s present location, that largely served as the solidifying component between members of my research population. They were simultaneously linked to Europe and more precisely, to TEC, and also to this religiously focused town in Japan in which their shared referential place-based lexicon which influenced their identity and social commonalities included both locations.

In chapter nine, I will discuss general components of this pilgrimage town that were important contributors of being there and also of how Tenrikyo is conceptualized in other locations. Then, in chapter ten, I will discuss numerous specific reasons, namely trainings and events, for which people spent time there and developed experientially based connections with this location and with specific experiences that take place there which link them to the faith, the location in which it is centered, and with others who share these commonalities. Through this final section, we can see that to adequately describe and understand the “TEC community,” we must take into account its transnational nature that was at the core of what it was.
# Chapter nine: “Coming home” to Tenri City: lived and imaginary connections to a pilgrimage site

## a. The sustained and prominent connection to the Jiba

### The bi-local nature of the TEC community

The high level of interconnectedness between TEC and Tenri City was an important contributing factor to how the eclectic and interconnected group on which my study is focused was constructed, sustained, and developed. The conceptually-based connection followers, including those in Europe, were encouraged to have with this sacred site was an important uniting commonality, somewhat regardless of if they had spent significant amounts of time together there or rather, if their connection to this pilgrimage site existed largely or entirely in the realm of the imaginary.

The prominent role that the imaginary plays in linking many of the religious actors included in my study with Tenri City and the connected solidification of this European-based collection of religious actors as a “group,” which further contributes to their regarding themselves as being part of the broader global Tenrikyo sphere, is evocative of Benedict Anderson’s (2006) “imagined communities.” More than the actual, personally lived connections members of a group have with other members, it is their perception of being part of a greater communal social whole that fixes their identity as part of one, which is, in turn, also imagined by other people who similarly perceive themselves as part of the group. Numerous components that are often associated with Tenri City that I discuss in this and the following chapter are included as some of the same “interests and characteristics” that Anderson spoke of in his discussion of their role in the construction and sustenance of imagined communities. Although there are discrepancies which exist between different Tenrikyo spheres, the common link of all Tenrikyo followers to this pilgrimage town, and its connected imaginary realm, is a key factor in their conceptualization of belonging to the greater Tenrikyo whole and also a highly prominent connecting factor that links the religious actors included in the “TEC community.”

Similar to the concept of the “nation” discussed by Anderson, in the wider realm of Tenrikyo, it was common to hear “members” mention regarding themselves as being part of a greater
Tenrikyo “familial” whole. Despite the fact that “members,” similar to those of “imagined communities,” will never know most of their fellow “members,” meet them, or even hear of them, in their minds is the image of their communion. The most prominent contributing component to this is the notion of followers throughout the world directing their prayers through the performance of the Service ritual toward the sacred point of the Jiba, thereby joining with other followers and with the divine focal point of the faith (God the Parent) in this highly important location. Furthermore, images of this central religious area, most prominently the Main Sanctuary, are commonly displayed at Tenrikyo sites of worship and included in their publications, thereby strengthening the association between this place and the faith through sight-based representation. These mentally constructed and physical images are also a prominent feature of what links followers together both worldwide and also in the “TEC community.”

Similar to Anderson’s “imagined communities” which entail a sense of communion or “horizontal comradeship” between people who often do not know each other or have not even met, but despite their differences, imagine belonging to the same collectivity to which they attribute a common history, traits, beliefs, and attitudes, in the case of both the wider global collection of Tenrikyo followers and also those included in the “TEC community,” the majority of these linking features are based in and associated with this religiously focused location. Also analogous to Anderson’s discussion is that the deep emotional bonds Tenrikyo followers generally have to numerous aspects of the faith, namely that of the Service ritual, the Jiba, God the Parent, the foundress, and the central area of Tenri City where the main sanctuaries dedicated to these two entities are located. All of these aspects are closely interlinked and associated strongly with this pilgrimage town and join members of the greater religious whole, even if they never meet. Further linking members of the greater Tenrikyo whole are supposedly shared cultural features that are positioned as features of Tenrikyo culture.

Among all features of Tenrikyo, though, it is the sacred point of the Jiba, and extendedly, the pilgrimage town of Tenri City in which it is located, that is the key unifier of followers, regardless of where they are. The conceptualized and lived relation that followers have to the Jiba is largely based on the idea that this sacred point is where all humans are originally from. People
who go there are said to be “returning” to this location, even if it is their first time (in this life) to go there. Accordingly, people are greeted with “welcome home” when they go there, regardless of if they have been there before or if they identify as a follower of the religion. To begin a focused discussion on this pilgrimage site positioned literally and symbolically at the center of the faith, it is appropriate to put forth a basic explanation of what and where it is. Although some of these features have been previously stated in my thesis, I would like to convey a foundational explanation of key information about this town at this point from which to continue my discussion.

Tenri City (or Shoyashiki Village as it was called at the time Tenrikyo came into existence) is where the foundress lived for the majority of her life, moving there in 1810 at the age of twelve from a nearby village two km away upon an arranged marriage (The Life of Oyasama, Foundress of Tenrikyo 1996: 8-10). It was there where the teachings of the path were conveyed. Geographically, it is located in Nara Prefecture, approximately 12 km from the city of Nara and approximately 50 km from Osaka. Its proximity to Osaka is notable, among other reasons, due to the tendency of Japanese followers living abroad to fly into Osaka Kansai International Airport when returning to Japan and to first visit Tenri City before thereafter continuing on to their hometown or other destination(s). In a very tangible and repeated manner, this sacred site was accorded importance through regularly being the first destination such followers, who composed the vast majority of the core of the “TEC community,” visited when re-entering their country of origin. Ideologically, it was not simply to the general municipality of Tenri City that followers were travelling to, but more specifically to the sacred point of the Jiba514 located therein. In doing this, as multiple followers explained to me, they were returning to visit both their original hometown and also their original parent(s)515.

<footnote n="512">512 kaeru</footnote>

<footnote n="513">513 okaeri nasai</footnote>

<footnote n="514">514 While this was true for most followers, I do not wish in stating this to make a universal claim. During my research, I heard about a variety of personal relationships followers had with aspects of this pilgrimage site, such as the very personal experiences some people had in the foundress' sanctuary, where the ever-living foundress resides, located slightly adjacent to the Main Sanctuary constructed around the point of the Jiba.</footnote>

<footnote n="515">515 This ambiguity between the foundress (i.e. Oyasama) and God the Parent (i.e. Oyagami) is something I heard discussed by numerous Tenrikyo followers throughout my research, including TEC officials. This lack of clarity is also</footnote>
To refresh the reader's memory, the precise location of the Jiba was reportedly<fnref n="516" /> identified by Oyasama on June 29, 1875 as the place where God the Parent enabled the original conception of humans who have been reborn many times until the present time and also as the place where God the Parent resides. After this precise point was identified by Oyasama, it was said to have been subsequently confirmed by her followers who were there with her by each of them wearing a blindfold and stopping at this precise spot from the pull they felt from the ground. It is for this reason that this point, and extendedly Tenri City inside which it is located, is regarded as the original hometown of all humanity and is commonly referred to as “the home of the parent” (Oyasato).

The connection between this sacred point and Tenrikyo sites of worship elsewhere, including TEC and the lineage-based sites in Europe discussed in chapter six, was something I heard referenced throughout my research by core members of the TEC community. This was generally expressed in two ways. The first was based in their imaginative capacities, as evidenced for example through some followers who talked about that on occasion when performing the Service at TEC or at other Tenrikyo sites of worship far from the Jiba, they would close their eyes and imagine the Jiba and performing the Service toward this point. The second way I heard followers discuss the connection between the Jiba and performing the Service elsewhere was through uniting their hearts/minds with the Jiba and relatedly, with all others who in like manner were also connecting their hearts/minds with the Jiba. In relation to thinking about the role of the body in the construction of community, in performing the Service during which time they were ideally directing their intention toward this sacred point, they were performing the same gestures and singing the same songs through their physical bodies. Thus, not only was their intention ideally shared<fnref n="517" />, but their bodily movements, gestures, and often also their bodily covering of the

<footnote>present in the textual material of the religion, as the scholar of religious studies, Marras (1983) noted in his discussion of the religion that it is often difficult in Tenrikyo texts to make a clear distinction between whether the subject is Oyasama or Oyagami.</footnote>

<footnote n="516">⁵¹⁶ This is the date of the event that is included in Tenrikyo texts, trainings, and discourse.</footnote>

<footnote n="517">⁵¹⁷ I say “ideally shared” because, in reality, the internal intention of each follower could vary depending on both the particular individual and the moment.</footnote>
Tenrikyo happi, or more formal variations of Tenrikyo robes, were also the same. Not only was there a shared commonality in the intention between these dispersed followers toward the Jiba, but there was also a commonly shared bodily practice.

This physical connection with the Jiba and with other Tenrikyo sites of worship was also maintained at Tenrikyo sites of worship throughout the world via the “sacred objects” housed within the altars dedicated to God the Parent that were linked through a ritual performed around the Jiba. By returning to the Jiba, not only were followers returning to the location of their spiritual focus but they were also returning to the location from which the (unseen) objects toward which they directed their focus when at their local sites of worship originated.

In discussing the role of this pilgrimage site, it should be noted that often, for followers “returning” to Tenri City from outside of Japan, a visit to church(es) of their lineage<sup>518</sup> was often included as a part of their overall trip. Most often, these visits were to the supervising “parent” church(es<sup>519</sup>) of their “home site” and for those with their “home site” located in Japan, also to their “home site.” Thus, the connection followers in Europe had with the religion in Japan was not only constructed through “returning” to this pilgrimage town, but also often through time spent at lineage-based sites elsewhere in this country, thereby further adding to the connection between these two disparate contexts.

In thinking of the social world of TEC, it is not enough to simply look at what was occurring in Europe to understand this “community” that had transnationality as one of its key features. Instead, the trend Harbottle (2004) cited to have developed recently in post-modern anthropology of viewing migrants as being in two dynamically intertwined social systems rather than in two static, separate ones is quite applicable to my study. In the case of the collection of social actors on which my research was focused, not only were many migrants themselves, with many coming from and occasionally returning to Japan, particularly in the case of most of the core members of this community, but furthermore, the religion of Tenrikyo itself was a migrant to Europe from

<footnote n="518">518 All lineage-based Tenrikyo sites are located outside of Tenri City. Thus, visits to these lineage-based sites are also visits to other towns and in many cases, regions of this country.</footnote>

<footnote n="519">519 Depending on the particular lineage structure to which one is rooted, these “parent” churches are the supervising branch church and/or grand church of one’s “home site”.</footnote>
Japan. The dynamic interplay between these two locations was at work on two different levels. Moreover, because all humans were conceptualized in the religion as being originally from the sacred point of the Jiba located in what is now Tenri City, regardless of where they were born in this life, all humans were regarded as being migrants in a more profound sense, even if they do not realize this truth. One of the main aims of Tenrikyo is to teach people of this truth and thus lead them to "return" to this pilgrimage site that is commonly referred to in the religion as "The Home of the Parent," thereby emphasizing the familial connection people have to it.

In relation to the “TEC community,” this pilgrimage town functioned as a secondary, but chiefly important, point of coming together for members of this social collectivity, particularly among those socially situated at or near the core of this group. That relationships developed at TEC were continued elsewhere, principally in Tenri City, was highlighted to me, among other occasions, by one of the Miyamoto sisters<fnref n="520" />. This description given by this young woman took place on a chilly Sunday evening in the middle of winter while waiting inside the entrance of a McDonalds in close proximity to ACFJT for the arrival of all the participants helping with the weekly distribution of hot soup and drinks to homeless people<fnref n="521" />. In our conversation, she told me how the missionary teachers and other people who come live at TEC become like family during their time there. While growing up, she was quite used to new people coming in and becoming part of this residential “family” and then, after a couple years, leaving and going back to Japan or elsewhere<fnref n="522" />.

I asked if it was sad for her when she was younger to make such close relationships, only each time to have them move away. She said that it was something she had gotten used to as it had been like that her whole life. She went on to say that although she could understand it might seem somewhat unusual to have grown up in this way, it was simply the way things were for her since birth as she has lived at TEC since that time, and thus it was normal for her. She then added that when their time at TEC was up for these temporary residents, she knew she would see them

<footnote n="520">⁵²⁰ As a reminder, the Miyamoto sisters are the daughters of a former TEC head couple born and raised at TEC where they continued to live during their young adult years discussed in chapter four.</footnote>

<footnote n="521">⁵²¹ This weekly distribution was organized by the Europe Young Men's Association but was open to anyone wishing to help.</footnote>

<footnote n="522">⁵²² Several such people, for example, still lived in France and remained part of the “core” TEC community.</footnote>
again, such as when they were in Tenri City at the same time, which occurred somewhat regularly for many included in this group. This was particularly the case for those positioned as core members, who were both more implicated in this group and who also generally returned with more regularity to this pilgrimage site.

My own time in Tenri City demonstrated such meetings to be a common component of being there. While there for a cumulative period of approximately one month out of the one and a half months of fieldwork I conducted in Japan in July and August 2016<sup>523</sup>, I had numerous reunions with people I had previously gotten to know at TEC who lived elsewhere and also spent time with numerous members of the “TEC community” who I again saw shortly thereafter at TEC. In this, the interconnectedness between these two locations was highlighted, thereby supporting the importance of thinking about the interplay between these two contexts in relation to the social world on which I focus my thesis.

*Being connected to the spiritual through sacred materiality: the primary three Tenrikyo sanctuaries*

At the center of Tenri City were the three principal Tenrikyo sanctuaries: the Main Sanctuary<sup>524</sup> dedicated to God the Parent which housed the sacred point of the Jiba, the Foundress' Sanctuary, and the sanctuary dedicated to the ancestors generally referred to in English Tenrikyo discourse as the “Memorial Hall<sup>525</sup>.” The image below is of the Main Sanctuary to which the Memorial Hall is attached. The Foundress' Hall<sup>526</sup> (not shown<sup>527</sup>) is in an adjacent location and is completely separate structure. This photo is from Tenrikyo's official website and is typical of images of this sacredly regarded location for which there is ample inclusion of the sky, often with

<footnote n="523"><sup>523</sup> The remainder of my fieldwork in Japan included about one week at the church and familial home Yuko was born into and raised at, approximately one week at the church Mr. Sugimoto was born into and raised at, and several days at the grand church of “my” lineage during the time of its Monthly Service.</footnote>

<footnote n="524"><sup>524</sup> Shinden神殿</footnote>

<footnote n="525"><sup>525</sup> Soreiden祖靈殿</footnote>

<footnote n="526"><sup>526</sup> Kyosoden教祖殿</footnote>

<footnote n="527"><sup>527</sup> An image of the Foundress' Hall is included in this document several pages later.</footnote>
dramatic imagery, thereby emphasizing the wonders of nature, which is directly connected with
the central teachings of Tenrikyo.

<figure><img src="image_28.png" /><figcaption>Image 9: Tenrikyo Main Sanctuary. Photo: TENRIKYO 2017-18.</figcaption></figure>

This central religious area, along with its accompanying history in relation to the religion, was commonly discussed in Tenrikyo-focused settings. Through this, the spatial manifestation of the religion was not only included in the experience of followers when in this key area of Tenri City but also when in Tenrikyo contexts physically distant from this site, largely via the realm of the imaginary. Thus, these religious buildings and their surrounding area existed in the overall religious experience of followers (and often others affiliated with the religion) not only when physically in Tenri City but also when elsewhere. This connection was also materially exemplified through their mirrored representation at other Tenrikyo sites of worship through the altars dedicated to the same three entities as these three main sanctuaries. Thus, they merit a pointed discussion due to both their prominence in the lived experience of followers when in this pilgrimage space and also to the prominent place that they held in the realm of the imaginary in relation to how the religion was conceptualized and experienced by followers more generally.

In the story of how this centrally important religious structure came into being, as detailed in the introduction, numerous components of the religion are included. One is the idea of this place, and extendedly the religion, being the realization of a salvific ultimate destiny put in place by God the Parent when humanity was first conceived, thereby bringing together the spiritual and physically
spatial sides of the religion. Another is the connection between the physical body and the spiritual self, which could arguably be called the main teaching of the religion. In both the account of the foundress undergoing physical turmoil when God the Parent initially requested to use her as its shrine and through the frequent accounts in this religious context of people experiencing physical ills in relation to spiritual causes and then being relieved of them through spiritual means, the physical and the spiritual are positioned as being closely related. This theme puts forth a foundation for both a strong conceptual emphasis between the spiritual and the physical and also how the point of the Jiba, the sanctuary in which it is situated, and the pilgrimage town of Tenri City are conceptualized in the religion.

The idea that the Jiba is the sacred point from which world salvation, commonly referred to in the religion as “the Joyous Life” as discussed in chapter three, will come about is integrated into the materiality of the Main Sanctuary. During the time of my research, the point of the Jiba was marked by a temporary wooden pillar referred to as the *kanrodai* (“the stand for heavenly dew,”) which, according to Tenrikyo dogma, will be replaced by a permanent stone pillar of specific dimensions per Oyasama’s instructions once, as she prophesized, the joyous world of human harmony has been realized and as a result, “heavenly dew” (*kanro*) falls from the sky to the point of the Jiba on which the kanrodai stands. When followers come into this space for collective Services or for individual prayer (often via the performance of the Service on their own or otherwise marked at the beginning and end of their prayer time through the ritual marker of clapping four times), it is toward this physical manifestation of the religion’s main eschatological teaching that followers face. Further manifesting the religion’s theological conceptualization in this physical space is that in preparation of this salvific event, directly above the designated point of the Jiba, there is an opening in the extremely high ceiling of the sanctuary so that the *kanro*<fnref n="528" /> can fall from the sky to the kanrodai without hindrance at an unknown time in the future, as prophesized by the foundress, thereby bringing about salvation to humanity by means of physical, social, and emotional well-being. Central to the physical space of the Main Sanctuary and the conception of this building is the benevolent parental figure of God the Parent in both a symbolic and literal sense.

<footnote n="528">⁵²⁸ Kanro: literally “sweet heavenly dew”, though often this was understood in modern times in a more metaphorical, rather than material, sense.</footnote>
The conceptualized residence of a benevolent spiritual parental figure was not exclusively confined to the Main Sanctuary but was also understood to dwell in an adjacent sanctuary, though through a different spiritual entity. The ever-living Oyasama was positioned in the religion to dwell in spiritual form in the nearby “Foundress’ Sanctuary<fnref n="529" />” (See image hereafter.) Her residency in this building was conceptualized in the religion in a very literal manner. In this sanctuary, Oyasama was lovingly cared for by female attendees<fnref n="530" /> who served her meals, drew her daily bath, put out a red kimono for her to wear during the day and sleeping clothes for her to wear at night, and attended to her other daily needs in her private quarters just as they would if she were living in physical form. Oyasama was regarded to come down to the public space of the “Foundress’ Hall<fnref n="531" />” in the morning from her private living quarters located above where she would spend most of her day receiving followers which was, for some, an intimate space of communion with their loving and beloved original mother.

<figure><img src="image_29.png" /><figcaption>Image 10: Foundress’ Sanctuary. Photo: Tenrikyo Resource 2020.</figcaption></figure>

<footnote n="529">⁵²⁹ Kyosoden 教祖殿</footnote>

<footnote n="530">⁵³⁰ These female attendees were specially selected and, to the best of my knowledge, were always prominently positioned in church head families, often of a grand church.</footnote>

<footnote n="531">⁵³¹ go-Yoba 御用場</footnote>
As explained several pages previously, also located in this area of the pilgrimage town was the “Memorial Hall<fnref n="532" />.” In numerous explanations that I heard of this building, in contrast to the Main Sanctuary and the Foundress’ Sanctuary that were positioned in the religion as places in which the above-mentioned spiritual entities literally reside, the Memorial Hall was described as being a symbolic, rather than literal, space dedicated to the memory of previous Tenrikyo adherents, including its leadership, (i.e. the ancestors) at which to think of them with gratitude. Their actual spirits were said to return to the physical world through rebirth into a different body. This symbolic rather than literal meaning contributed to the other two principal sanctuaries receiving more focus in the discourse on this pilgrimage area, in the lived experiences of time spent at them, and in the level of spiritual focus directed toward them. Although I heard accounts from followers regarding profoundly spiritual experiences they had partaken in both the Main Sanctuary and the Foundress’ Sanctuary, I never once heard of such an experience taking place in the Memorial Hall. This is logical in relation to it being positioned as a site dedicated to the memory of figures (people) rather than a site where they literally dwelt. It was also due to the nature of the figures that were positioned in the religion to reside in the other two sanctuaries being that of the benevolent parents of all humans, thereby encouraging a particular type of relational experience to occur in them that focused on the profound and intimate familial love and guidance coming from these entities.

The prominence of these three buildings was reflective of the religion’s overall emphasis on these two parental figures who were understood to dwell there in spiritual form in combination with recognition and gratitude directed toward those who came before (“the ancestors”) who helped develop our present reality, including the religion of Tenrikyo as it exists in its current form<fnref n="533" />. The parallel between these three sanctuaries and the three altars at Tenrikyo sites throughout the world<fnref n="534" /> dedicated in like manner to these three entities was an important contributing factor to

<footnote n="532">⁵³² Soreiden 祖靈殿</footnote>

<footnote n="533">⁵³³ It should be noted that the inclusion of the ancestors was reflective of the broader Japanese sphere in which this religion came about and continued to predominantly exist which places spiritual emphasis on the ancestors, often through a shrine dedicated to them.</footnote>

<footnote n="534">⁵³⁴ Local Tenrikyo sites of worship are not required to have all three altars, which are expensive to purchase, and some do not. The local mission station I attended, for example, had altars for God the Parent and also for Oyasama, both of which were indicated to me to house a sacred object, but did not have one for the ancestors. Despite the</footnote>
the material and conceptual congruence between this central area of Tenri City, Tenrikyo sites of worship elsewhere, and the experience of followers in both contexts. When followers were in front of the altars dedicated to these three entities at sites of worship elsewhere, they were essentially sitting in front of a miniature, replicated version of the three main sanctuaries in the central area of Tenri City and thus, were directing their focus/prayers/thoughts/feelings toward the same three entities. This correspondence was further established through the “sacred objects” that were from and ritually consecrated at the Jiba around which the Main Sanctuary was constructed, then subsequently housed inside each altar dedicated to God the Parent, regardless of place, thereby creating an imagined metaphysical connection between them as well as a physical one. In this, we can see yet another example of how the experiences and relational approaches that occur at sites of worship elsewhere, including TEC, were closely physically and spiritually tied to Tenri City, encouraging their social, experiential, and symbolic interconnectedness.

The close emotional connection with the sanctuaries, particularly the sanctuaries dedicated to God the Parent, the foundress, and the benevolent parental figures understood to dwell therein that followers commonly felt in very personal, familial ways was an important component of the faith and the relationship that followers had to it, including those of my research population. For most followers, it was not mainly the abstract, theological components of the faith that were the primary contributors to their lived experiences with it. Rather, it was largely through more personal experiences, such as with the residential sites of both God the Parent (the Jiba and extendedly, the Main Sanctuary) and the foundress (the Foundress’ Sanctuary), that functioned as the primary contributors to the construction of their relationship to this pilgrimage town, the faith, and extendedly, other followers.

As this relationship to the religion was formed through the experiential rather than the theoretical, the physical bodies through which these experiences occurred were important “texts” in their engagement with the faith. The importance of experiences via the body was reflected in the fact that the Mikagura-uta songs and dances for the Service were positioned officially as one of the three “sacred texts” of the religion, in which, as I heard explained from time to time, Tenrikyo is

<footnote>lack of an altar dedicated to the ancestors, though, we did clap four times to pray\ pay respects to them when doing so toward the altars for God the Parent and Oyasama.</footnote>
not something that can be understood only through intellectual study of it. It is something that
must be engaged over time, through lived experiences that occur, by default, in and through the
physical body for a greater comprehension of the faith to be acquired.

Furthermore, as previously explained, the physical human body is positioned as a central object
in the faith as Tenrikyo's main teachings included that the body is “a thing lent, a thing
borrowed” from God the Parent, that the body is sustained by the “Ten Providences of God the
Parent,” that one's mind is manifested through the body, and that bodily ailments are actually
divine guidance from God the Parent in relation to one's mind. The interactions followers had
with the divine were not positioned in Tenrikyo as something that occurred in an abstract spiritual
realm “somewhere else,” but instead as something that occurred in the here and now on the
physical earth, often through physically lived experiences. Thus, a significant portion of
“reading” the religion and its teachings was through personal experiences via one's living,
breathing body. I again bring the reader's attention to these components of the religion to
emphasize the prominent place that physical engagement with the religion, including time spent
in the three principal sanctuaries of the faith located in the center of Tenri City, and extendedly in
the pilgrimage town more generally, had in relation to the religion's dogma concerning the
important position of the physical body and one's experiences through it.

“Coming home” to the Jiba: constructed familiarity with a pilgrimage town

The conceptualized relationship followers had to Tenri City was also a significant point of both
the faith and of the transnational lived and imagined realities of followers included in my study.
From a theological Tenrikyo perspective, in thinking of a person's rootedness to the world and to
social figures contained therein, it is important to include not only the connection that followers
have to where they were born and raised in their present life, but also the connections that they
have with Tenri City as this is where people are regarded to originate and where their original
parent(s)<fnref n="535" /> are understood to continue to dwell.

<footnote n="535">⁵³⁵ The facultative “s” is to include both God the Parent and the soul of the foundress as the original parents of all humanity.</footnote>
The connection between the religion, its followers, and this pilgrimage site was multi-leveled. It included the aforementioned theologically based conception of the site as a “homeland” in a very profound sense. It also comprised the town’s social function as a place of reunion with people they previously shared time with in various Tenrikyo contexts, as well as a place of meeting with members of the wider Tenrikyo social collectivity who they were likely to see again in other Tenrikyo contexts. It was common for followers<fnref n="536" /> based in Europe, who had been in Europe, or who were otherwise connected to European Tenrikyo contexts to meet with others from this social collectivity and take part in a variety of shared moments when in Tenri City. These moments that occurred in this pilgrimage town in Japan then contributed to the construction of the multi-layered “TEC community.”

Thus, as evoked slightly previously, Harbottle’s (2004) reference to the post-modern trend of looking at migrants as being in two interconnected “worlds” (i.e. social systems) rather than two separate ones is very pertinent to my research context. To understand the social world of TEC, Tenri City, which serves as an important site of lived and conceptual connections between members of the “TEC community,” should be included. In complementary fashion, to understand this “European group” that comes together for numerous occasions in Tenri City, inclusion of TEC is similarly merited as the social collectivity on which my research was focused was one that was one that was constructed and occurred in two (or more<fnref n="537" />) social and geographic contexts. For the European-based followers who composed the central component of my research population, their connection to Tenri City was more than theoretical. Throughout the lives of the majority of those born into the religion<fnref n="538" />, they had spent time in this pilgrimage town on various occasions and for various reasons, thereby rendering this place an important component of the cumulation of experiences that made them who they were and how they related to the world. While followers often went to Tenri City for specific reasons, such as to attend a training program or special event, one did not need a specified reason to go there.

<footnote n="536">⁵³⁶ Or others closely connected to the faith who do not categorize themselves as such.</footnote>

<footnote n="537">⁵³⁷ “Or more” is my own addition to Harbottle’s encouragement to look at migrants as being involved in “two” dynamically intertwined social systems.</footnote>

<footnote n="538">⁵³⁸ In general, this is most true for Japanese followers or followers of Japanese Tenrikyo parents.</footnote>
During my first year of fieldwork, I had difficulty understanding the concept of Tenri City and the Jiba as being thought of very concretely as the home of one's parent, and connectedly, as one's own hometown. Finally, after asking Mr. Sugimoto detailed questions regarding the attributed meaning of going to the Jiba, he explained to me that just as one does not need to ask why I sometimes return home to Alaska where I was born and raised and where my parents still reside, one does not need to ask intricately detailed questions regarding why one goes to the Jiba. One returns to visit one's parent(s) and where one is originally from. Thus, rather than pilgrimages to Tenri City carrying merely an abstract theological value, for many Tenrikyo followers<fnref n="539" />, time spent there was imbued with a familial and familiar quality that was a prominent contributing factor to their relationship to this location and to the overall faith.

b. Uniting around the Jiba for the Monthly Service, creating a Tenrikyo world

*A mystical point of focus that reverberates out from the Jiba to TEC through experiential and imaginative means*

On the morning of the twenty-sixth of each month, the “real” Monthly Service is enacted. Followers fill the north, south, east, and west wings of the Main Sanctuary, each of which faces the sacred marker of the kanrodai, as they do in lesser numbers for both its daily Morning and Evening Services and throughout the day as followers come in on their own or in small groups to spend time in this revered site. In the arrangement of the four wings of the Main Sanctuary (depicted hereafter) which face each other, as was explained to me by numerous followers at TEC, attendees facing where the Service is performed around the Jiba are also facing each other in their worship. Through this, as I sometimes heard followers explain, the humanistic values of the faith, such as mutual respect, acting in unison, and that as humans, we are each other’s mirror, are manifested and further encouraged among those present.

<footnote n="539">⁵³⁹ I use the word “many” rather than “most” because I encountered some followers who did not ascribe to various Tenrikyo beliefs, including the literal significance of Tenri City being the exact physical location of where humanity originated and where God the Parent and Oyasama currently reside; as I am not knowledgeable on the inner-feelings	houghts of most followers, I choose to not make summarizing statement of the beliefs of Tenrikyo followers as a whole.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_30.png" /><figcaption>Image 11: Four wings of the Main Sanctuary. Image: TENRIKYO, date unknown.</figcaption></figure>

Dispersed Tenrikyo followers are, by default, always trans-local people because of simultaneously being connected to where they are presently living but also to the sacred point of the Jiba, where they are regarded in the faith to be originally from. Key to their trans-locality is the centrally important ritual of the Service that reverberates out to influence the greater whole of the religion from the kanrodai stand at which, according to Tenrikyo dogma, God the Parent resides, humanity was first conceived, and where heavenly dew (kanro) will fall once humanity has become sufficiently purified<fnref n="540" />. The kanrodai around which this sacred ritual is performed is included in the third song of the Seated Service sung in three sets of three that is performed ideally in the Tenrikyo faith at least twice daily through the Morning and Evening Services, during the beginning of the Monthly Service, and at other times that elicit its performance. Thus, the kanrodai, and relatedly the Monthly Service performed around it, is a prominent component of the faith not only when followers are in Tenri City but also in their non-place-based practice of

"The Kanrodai, the Stand for the Heavenly Dew, is set up at Jiba of Origin as proof that Jiba is the place where humankind was first conceived by God the Parent at the time of creation. Jiba is given the divine name Tenri-O-no-Mikoto out of God's profound intention. The Kanrodai, which marks Jiba, serves as the focal point for our worship of God the Parent and our prayer for universal salvation. The Kanrodai is, indeed, the center around which the Kagura Service is performed by those who melt into God the Parent's intention while praying for universal salvation and the realization of the Joyous Life.

The Kanrodai is also the stand to receive the "Heavenly Dew" or the "Gift from Heaven," which will be bestowed through the performance of the Kagura Service when human minds have been completely purified and have attained true sincerity." (Tenrikyo Young Men's Association 2006).

<footnote n="540">⁵⁴⁰ The precise significance of the kanrodai is somewhat difficult to define. I include as a footnote an explanation of it from an official Tenrikyo website of Church Headquarters:</footnote>
the faith through which non-material connections to it are constructed and evoked on a regular basis.

Often, time spent facing the kanrodai during both collective group Services and more solitary moments was then carried with people who took part in these sacred moments to other locations, such as TEC and other European-based sites of worship, largely by means of the imaginary. Through this, the emotional experiences that took place at the Jiba were then partially transferred to these other locations that were, in fact, incomplete reproductions of the Jiba, most prominently through the altars dedicated to God the Parent inside which sacred objects from this divine site are housed and by means of the Service ritual.

On numerous occasions during my fieldwork, I heard followers talk about how when at local Tenrikyo sites of worship, including TEC, they sometimes envisioned previous experiences of attending the Service performed in the main Tenrikyo sanctuary around the kanrodai and the kanrodai itself. For some, the experience of being at a Service performed around the kanrodai and being in front of the kanrodai itself were tangibly present elements of Tenrikyo contexts elsewhere by means of purposeful association based in the realm of the imaginary and further encouraged through translocal sensorial means, such as sight, sound, and bodily movement. Through this, we can see that experiences around the kanrodai were then reactivated later at other Tenrikyo sites through conceptual and experiential means. Conversely, the ascribed significance of the Jiba that was constructed and solidified in Tenrikyo contexts elsewhere both through directing their focus to this sacred point when in front of altars dedicated to God the Parent and also through the more general focus toward this sacred point was a prominent theme of structured and unstructured discussions and referential materials, and moreover the purpose of the sites themselves, was then transferred to their experiences around the Jiba, thereby amplifying this sentiment when in front of this divine point.

The prominent position of this “main” Monthly Service in the faith and in the lived experience of followers renders a detailed description of it pertinent. It is commonly referred to, amongst other names, as the *kagura zutome*<fnref n="541" /> (“Service of the Kagura Masks”) to differentiate it from other

<footnote n="541">⁵⁴¹ As explained on an official Tenrikyo website affiliated with Church Headquarters: "The expression "Kagura Service" (Jpn: Kagura-zutome かぐらづとめ) comes from the fact that wearing the masks are a vital part of this</footnote>
Services (*tsutome/zutome*<fnref n="542" />). This masked Service is regarded as the *real* Monthly Service. All other Services performed around the world are canonically regarded as practice services through which people unite their hearts with the Jiba and the Service performed at it. According to Tenrikyo doctrine, the Kagura Service is a reenactment of God's creation of human beings and its performance is believed to help manifest God's providence that was present at creation (Tenrikyo Resource Wiki 2012-Dec.).

For this ritual, five male and five female designated masked performers symbolically recreate the working together in unity of the “Ten Providences of God the Parent” that God the Parent brought about to enable the conception of the first humans. This Service is performed with the same music as that of all other Seated Services throughout the world, thereby creating an auditory connection between this ritual and the performance of the Seated Service elsewhere. In this Service performed around the kanrodai, though, in contrast to other Seated Services where six performers execute the same hand movements in unison, at the Monthly Service performed around the kanrodai, each of the ten masked performers execute different hand dances, each enacting one of the “Ten Providences of the God the Parent,” thus contributing to the distinction between this Service and the renditions that occur elsewhere. As explained on the website of TEC:

> The Kagura Service is a reenactment in principle of God the Parent's providence at the time of creation. Ten Service performers encircle the Jiba-Kanrodai and symbolize by hand-gestures the principles of God the Parent's workings, by which humankind and the world were created. The Kagura Service is the means by which we call forth God the Parent's blessings of universal salvation, whereby the world will be reconstructed as the world of the Joyous Life. (Tenrikyo Europe Center 2016).

Demonstrating the congruity between Tenrikyo rituals and the wider realm of Japanese culture which rendered Tenrikyo more familiar to a Japanese person than a non-Japanese person that I have evoked throughout my thesis is that, in general, “*kagura*” refers to ancient Shinto ritual

<footnote>ritual. When the word "Tsutome" (Service) is used in Tenrikyo Scriptures and texts, it is generally considered to specifically refer to the Kagura Service... Scriptual expressions "Joyous Service," "Salvation Service," and "Service of the Kanrodai" are said to be variant expressions that refer to the same Kagura Service. The Kagura comprises one shift (the first of three) of the Tsutome. Service dancers and performers of the musical instruments (six men and three women for a total of nine) rotate or switch with others with each shift." (Tenrikyo Resource Wiki 2012c)</footnote>

<footnote n="542">⁵⁴² Zutome and tsutome are the same word, but with slightly different phonetic pronunciations.</footnote>
dances. In these ancient Shinto ritual dances, similar to Tenrikyo, music plays a critical role, that of encouraging the *kami*<fnref n="543" /> to come and dance. The musical component of this ritual, as well as its “spiritual” component, is based largely in the realm of the imaginary, that was recreated through the performance of the Service elsewhere and encouraged an experiential coherence between the Kagura Service performed around the kanrodai and Tenrikyo Services performed elsewhere. Although being rooted in Japanese culture was not a necessary requirement to the sensitive reception of this ritual, it was a factor that contributed to it being more culturally contextualizable to some populations in comparison to others. This difference in levels of cultural resonance was one of the numerous factors that contributed to the presence of the two-tiered community that I observed to exist in relation to TEC in which Japanese people were generally positioned at its core and people of other cultural backgrounds were positioned closer to its periphery.

*Constructing a collective experiential and conceptual reference by means of the Monthly Service*

Included in the emotional experiences of many members of the “TEC community” was the experientially and theoretically impactful ritual of the Monthly Service that was orchestrated on the 26th of each month around the sacred point of the Jiba. This contributing element existed within the individual social actors themselves, within small social groups such as their families or that of their lineage-based “home sites,” and also within the collective emotionality of the “TEC community.” To expand on this contributing element, in Tenri City, the global experience of attending this “true” Monthly Service did not only entail attendance of the ritual that was conducted in the Main Sanctuary over the span of several hours, but also the time spent in Tenri City surrounding this ritual through which social connections and emotional associations with this pilgrimage town, the religion, the Service, and also its religiously associated social world were formed and further developed over time.

Over the span of the several days leading up to the 26th of each month, the followers’ dormitories<fnref n="544" /> in Tenri City would increasingly fill up with devotees coming to attend the

<footnote n="543">⁵⁴³ god/spirit</footnote>

<footnote n="544">⁵⁴⁴ A later section of this chapter is dedicated to the followers’ dormitories.</footnote>
Monthly Service. During my fieldwork in Tenri City, at the time leading up to this monthly ritual and other special events that I discuss in further detail in the next chapter, the followers' dormitory<sup>545</sup> at which I was staying, and the town, were transformed from a calm and quiet place into a lively setting filled with many people who collectively generated a festive ambiance. Over time, a rhythm of peak periods of festive commotion coupled with calmer periods that included preparations for the upcoming cyclic peak of celebratory activity was established.

In practice, the overall event of the Monthly Service entailed not only the ritual itself but also the surrounding festivities connected to it. This was similar to Monthly Services held at TEC (and other Tenrikyo sites of worship) where the broader occurrence of the Monthly Service included not only the ritual component, but also the festive, social components surrounding it, such as both the preparatory gathering of core members of the “TEC community” the day prior and the post-Service meal. Similar to TEC, the social ambiance of Tenri City was largely based on the ebbs and flows of people coming to this pilgrimage town for specific events. In this, the principal means through which many people came to know these religious sites was during their peak periods of social festivity rather than their calmer sides that existed in discreet continuity for a greater portion of each month and year.

The monthly peak surrounding the time of these Monthly Services is congruent with the way they are referred to in Japanese, among other names, as “tsukinamisai.,” which literally translates into English as “monthly celebration(s).” The celebratory nature of coming together for festive occasions, including but not limited to Monthly Services, was an important contributing factor to both Tenri City and to other Tenrikyo sites, including TEC. This would then often extend out to encourage a more generalized sense of community amongst the broader scene of Tenrikyo which then correspondingly included smaller contexts of it, such as that of the “TEC community.” In this, we can see an important contribution to the construction and sustained cohesion of the European-based social collectivity on which my thesis is focused was, in fact, partially constructed in the broader realm of Tenrikyo centered principally in Tenri City and around the sacred ritual of the Service performed around the kanrodai.

<footnote n="545">545 I stayed at the followers' dormitory of the grand church of "my" lineage.</footnote>
The date of the 26th on which the principal ritual of the religion occurred every month was significant in and of itself and contributed to the shared history of the religion that served as a binding component between both the greater collection of Tenrikyo followers and between the followers included in what I refer to as the “TEC community.” More precisely, the 26th corresponds to two highly important dates in the faith: the date on which Tenrikyo was founded and the date on which the foundress withdrew from physical life, going out into the world to share her teachings, no longer encumbered by a body. Near the beginning of my fieldwork, I asked Mr. Sugimoto who decided for the Monthly Service<sup>546</sup> to be held on the 26th of each month. He paused briefly to think about my question, then replied that it was God the Parent who decided upon this date because it was the day the religion was founded and the day the foundress withdrew from physical life to hasten the spread of the faith.

To elaborate on the first of these two highly important events associated with the important date of the 26th, as mentioned at the beginning of my thesis, its foundational significance is linked to the date of October 26, 1838: the day Miki Nakayama was settled as the “Shrine of God the Parent” upon Miki’s husband expressing his authorization for his wife to serve in this purpose. It should be highlighted that in this story, two important components of the faith are conveyed: the central position of the sacred point of the Jiba and also the close interconnection between the spiritual and the physical. The second important occurrence associated with the 26th of the month is the date of January 26, 1887: the day on which the foundress withdrew from physical life at the age of ninety so as to hasten the spread of her teachings, remaining ever living on earth thereafter in spiritual form. This transformative event to the path occurred immediately after the Service had been executed in full upon her unwavering insistence to do so despite the risk involved from the persecution this budding religious movement was facing at the time.

Accounts of these two important events which coincide with the 26th of the month and are both strongly rooted to the area surrounding the Jiba in Tenri City were commonly known and often recounted in Tenrikyo contexts. They served as key elements of the faith that contributed to a shared history between the broader Tenrikyo social collectivity, of which the “TEC community”

<footnote n="546">546 The Monthly Service performed at the Jiba on the 26th of each month is regarded as the real Monthly Service of Tenrikyo, all other Monthly Services are regarded as analogous renderings of it.</footnote>
belongs. In returning to the Jiba, one was returning to the source of this collective history and this collectively shared imagined homeland. Similarly, in attending a Monthly Service at the Jiba, and though generally to a lesser degree, in attending this monthly ritual at other Tenrikyo sites of worship, one was engaging in the collectively shared experiential and cosmological foundation of the religion. Both of these factors contributed to an anchoring of the individual to the religion that encouraged interpersonal connections on both the more macro level of the broader Tenrikyo realm and on the more micro realm of the “TEC community.”

### c. Constructing belonging through presence and familiarity

*Reconnecting with an emotionally evocative tale of motherly love through ritual, place, and recounted events*

I would like to pause on the second of these two pivotal events that are taught to have occurred on the 26th of the month. Important to the religion's foundational story is the foundress' insistence on the importance of the Service and that it must be performed coupled with the profound sacrifice she made in relation to it. This adds an emotionally evocative element to the interconnected features of the religion, the pilgrimage town, the Service, the date of the 26th when this ritual is performed, and the foundress' (and God the Parent's) benevolent, motherly (parental) love. The final Service during the foundress' physical life was reportedly performed at noon as Oyasama laid in what appeared to be a physically weakened state in a nearby room. At 2 pm, once the Service had been completed, she withdrew from physical life, thus, as explained in Tenrikyo discourse, "opening the portals to level the ground," going out into the world to diffuse her teachings and motherly love more freely, no longer encumbered by a physical body. This account was emotionally close to many followers, because at its center, it talks of a mother's love for her children and of her strong desire for her teachings to reach her children (humanity) as quickly as possible.

In the multiple instances I heard this story recounted over the span of my research, this pivotal event was conveyed with a dual-leveled intensity. The courageousness of these early followers willing to risk imprisonment in order to perform the Service was positioned as a model of inspiration for modern followers to understand the importance of the Service and to prioritize and be bold in their engagement with it. Oyasama's intense love for humanity as her children, shown
through her choice to leave her physical body to go out into the world and hasten the spreading of her teachings, was a key component of followers' conceptualization of and emotional relationship to the faith.

At TEC, the importance of this final Service performed before the foundress' physical passing was generally accorded much more emphasis by Japanese followers, most of whom were raised in the faith, than by followers of other nationalities, including French and other European followers, who were not raised in the faith. I observed similar emphasis placed on this final, bravely performed Service during the foundress' physical lifetime by American Tenrikyo followers. Most of whom were of Japanese descent and raised in the faith, with many who I met being closely implicated in the religion, such as having been raised in a family that headed a site of worship.

This difference may be partially reflective of the place that the mother-child relationship, and mother-child love, holds in Japanese culture and the primacy accorded to the mother-child relationship within the family structure. When the child is a baby, it is common for a symbiotic relationship to be practiced in which the mother and baby, or toddler, are largely one unit rather than separate entities for which independence for both should be worked toward from an early age. Japanese children often sleep with their parents, most commonly their mothers, for significant periods of time, sometimes well into their mid-childhood years. As explained by Ochiai (1989), it is often said that Japan has a cultural tendency to attach special importance to the mother-child relationship, which is commonly positioned as a particular feature of Japanese culture. She notes that the point in history at which the Japanese mother-child relationship came into existence is a matter of opinion. It may have been during the Edo period (1603-1868) or in the late Edo/early Meiji period (Meiji: 1868-1912), which coincides with the foundress' life (1798-1887). Ochiai continues that it may also have occurred sometime between the Taishō (1912-1926) and early Shōwa (1926-1989) periods during Japan's period of industrialization, at which time the Tenrikyo religion was developing into its current form.

As explored by Bell, L. and Bell, D. (2000), in their discussion which compares and contrasts Japanese and American family structures, within middle class American families, the marriage is considered to be the center or foundation of the family. They assert that emotionally for most
Americans, the marital relationship is what comes first and the parent-child relationship is second. I would like to extend their generalized description of this common American family structure to the French one, which is largely similar. Contrastingly, they explain the Japanese family structure presents a different pattern in which the marriage is primarily for raising children rather than a personal relationship to fulfill the psychology of the mates. Two-families are joined for continuing the family line and many marriages are still arranged. The parent and child relationship, for which there are blood bonds, is viewed as naturally stronger and more basic than the marital contract (Lebra: 1984, 1976). Due to this structural difference in the normalized family structures of these two cultural contexts, it is understandable that the “mother’s” sacrifice for her “children” in the Tenrikyo account of the foundress’ physical passing received more emphasis from Japanese followers than from French or other European followers.

Furthermore, I hypothesize that it is also partially due to it not being an aspect of the faith that resonated with them as providing something they were looking for from a religion and/or spiritual practice. The resemblance between the self-sacrificial physical passing of the foundress in the Tenrikyo religious tradition and the self-sacrificial physical passing of Jesus in the Christian tradition may be a contributing reason to why this historical component of Tenrikyo was not accorded much emphasis by European followers in my observations. Because it did not provide a significantly alternate story to the dominant religion of Europe (Christianity), it was not a feature of Tenrikyo rendered a point of attraction via its significant alterity in comparison to other components<fnref n="547" />.

I postulate that the emphasis placed on this final Service by many Japanese and Japanese-American followers that I encountered was also reflective of the tradition of according emphasis to this element of the religious story that was passed down in the religious contexts of which these populations were a part. In these contexts, this emphasis was an inherited tradition of both their individual families and church lineages and also the broader religious context that their affiliated groups had been connected with for most often numerous generations that also existed in the collective whole of the Japanese and American Tenrikyo scenes. Conversely, Tenrikyo did

<footnote n="547">⁵⁴⁷ Even if these referenced Europeans were not brought up as Christians themselves, it is reasonable to think that they were aware of its central doctrine.</footnote>
not have a long-term presence in Europe<fnref n="548" />. Although core members of the “TEC community” expressed an emphasis on this benevolent sacrificial event in numerous Tenrikyo settings that included Europeans, in general this feature of the religion did not exist in the broader sphere of European Tenrikyo followers with the same ascribed significance or accorded attention in relation to other components of the religion.

An example of the emotional resonance that the account of the foundress' departure from physical life held for many Tenrikyo followers was demonstrated during my second year of participation in the European Seminar. For the third week of the program, I took part in the “Life of Oyasama” class taught in Japanese along with the only remaining participant of the German cohort: the previously mentioned thirty-something year old woman named Chihiro who was based in Vienna. Similar to other Tenrikyo trainings, as discussed previously, the official text on this component of the religion was utilized, in this case, “The Life of Oyasama, Foundress of Tenrikyo”⁵⁴⁹. Thus, although we were physically in France and covering the material via the Japanese language, the discourse involved in this highly significant transitional event was the same that followers throughout the world encountered when being educated about this important event in the religion’s foundational history.

While Chihiro, the instructor, and I were taking turns reading aloud from this text that contained emotionally evocative language to relay the account of the foundress' physical passing, Chihiro became highly sentimentally involved in the account. This was displayed through her body by tears and a wavering voice that prompted the instructor to relieve her from reading aloud. The following is an excerpt from this text which describes this important event, and her followers' reaction once they saw that the foundress, their original and ever-loving mother, was no longer physically with them, though they did not yet understand that she remained nonetheless spiritually present. It is from the official translated English text that I used during my

<footnote n="548">⁵⁴⁸ In addition to the brief presence of several Tenrikyo missionaries in London at the beginning on the 20th century, it is possible that there have been Tenrikyo followers in Europe not declared to the religious organization significantly before TEC's founding date of 1970. Overall, though, and even for some time after TEC's founding, there was not a notable presence of Tenrikyo in Europe.</footnote>
participation in the English-language cohort the previous year, but the content is the same in the English, French, and Japanese versions:

> Her followers felt as if the very ground on which they stood had crumbled away, as if the sun and the moon had ceased to shine, as if the world were enveloped in darkness. Separated from their true Parent, whom they had adored and yearned after for so many years and held irreplaceable in their hearts, they cried sorrowfully as if their bodies and minds would melt away. (The Life of Oyasama, Foundress of Tenrikyo 1996: 239).

Chihiro’s emotional response to this account was not due to the newness of the information conveyed. She had been born into and raised in a Tenrikyo church and several years prior had taken part in the three-month spiritual training course of Shuyoka in Tenri City which used the same text that we were using in this European context. Rather, it was revisiting this pivotal event in this particular context which involved the combination of multiple emotionally evocative components that prompted her response.

Similar to other such Tenrikyo trainings, the European Seminar was a constructed space of reflection and development separate from everyday life. For many followers and in the general structure of engagement with this religion, “returning” to Tenri City, particularly when there for shorter periods of time<fnref n="550" />, served in like manner as such a constructed space. Followers were encouraged through the orchestration of the European Seminar and similar programs, and through the experience of “returning” to the Jiba, to pause and contemplate the path of Tenrikyo and its implications for one’s own life and the world.

In Chihiro’s case, the focus on these emotionally warm components of the religion had already been fostered during the first two and a half weeks of the seminar through theoretical and ritual study which emphasized these central elements of the religion via pedagogical means. This structured method of encouraging a particular emotional state was constructed through the emphasis on the benevolent parental love that both God the Parent and the foundress had for us as their children and also the prominent enunciated and practiced teaching that all humans are brothers and sisters. There was emphasis on the importance of mutual help (*tasuke ai*),

<footnote n="549">⁵⁴⁹ More precisely, (Kohon Tenrikyo Kyoso den (稿本天理教教祖伝) was used for this class taught in Japanese.</footnote>

<footnote n="550">⁵⁵⁰ People also live permanently or for multi-year periods in Tenri City. In such cases, the “special” effect of being there is commonly diminished due to a normalization by means of prolonged exposure to the site.</footnote>
performing acts of service for others (hinokishin), that each of us are at our own place on the path to spiritual maturity and thus should not be judged in comparison to others, and also through the twice-daily Seated Service. These combined components encouraged both acceptance of others as they were and deep introspection and sharing with others, thereby opening participants up to more profound emotional experiences.

For followers returning to Tenri City, similar moments of prayer, hinokishin, and a pointedly Tenrikyo mode of social interaction were commonly included in their time there, resulting in a parallel state of heightened emotionality in relation to the religion similar to what was fostered through the European Seminar. The account of the foundress' passing from her physical body, and the conceptual and emotional associations followers have with it, which Chihiro's example illustrates, were strongly connected with the central area of Tenri City where these events took place and where the ever-living foundress was understood to still reside in spiritual form. This important religious event was not only linked to this pilgrimage town through a remembrance of it based in the realm of the intellect but also through lived engagement with this story by means of the body when in this religiously focused location. Everyday throughout the central part of Tenri City which surrounds the Jiba, musical notes in a melody that was likewise present in other Tenrikyo contexts were played on loudspeakers to signal the time of 2pm when Oyasama was said to have left her physical body after this pivotal Service had been completed. At this time, in accordance with tradition, everyone in this central area where the music could be heard would stop whatever they were doing to pause and reverentially lower their head in remembrance of this event and the sacrifice that the foundress made out of motherly love for humanity and the path of Tenrikyo.

In this, we can see an example of the bodily production of emotion that was also conveyed through numerous other scripted Tenrikyo practices which paired enacted practice and auditory stimuli. The most notable instances were that of the Service dances in which performers enact Tenrikyo teachings through their bodily performance and the act of clapping four times accompanied with a bow in reverence to each of the three entities represented through the altars at Tenrikyo sites and at their analogous sanctuaries in Tenri City. Through this daily pause in which everyone in the vicinity assumed a bodily position of humble deference in remembrance of the sacrifice the foundress made out of motherly love signaled through these Tenrikyo musical
notes that were likewise present in other Tenrikyo contexts, the emotional dimension of
socialization via the body was displayed.

In reflecting on this daily moment of pause in which all social actors in the vicinity collectively took up this posture, we can better understand the processes at play in the daily production of imaginings and senses of belonging to the larger group as put forth by Bénéti (2008). As explored in her text through looking at the production of nationalism but which lends itself well to religion, the phenomenological experience of taking part in scripted enactments of devotion to a prescribed recipient is a concrete, physical, and embodied one in which both a collective discourse and an individuated one occurs. By assuming a set posture at established moments in which a collectively put forth emotional disposition is taught to be assumed, participants incorporate a “spontaneous” sentiment toward the organizational entity that becomes an integral aspect of everyday life. Thus, through taking part in this daily pause of reverence, and similarly other Tenrikyo practices such as the two mentioned above, one is incorporating an associated way of being and feeling that extends far beyond the precise moments of rituality, permeating into the daily lives of the individual participants and into the collective realm of the group.

This daily pause of remembrance enacted by the body was part of the overall experience of being in Tenri City that promoted a shared experience of being there and contributed to followers' emotionally and experientially based relationship to this place and to the religion that served as a foundational connecting component between Tenrikyo followers, including those on which my research was focused. In my own experience of being in Tenri City and taking part in this reverential communal pause, despite not identifying as a Tenrikyo follower and having been in this location expressly for my thesis research, I recall these daily moments of symbolic pause marked through sound paired with a particular physical posture as moments of simplicity and purity which contributed to my positive memories of my time there. Such embodied experiences of engagement with the religion were favorable to a deepened emotional and intellectual connection to the faith, this religiously focused place, the central figures of the foundress and God the Parent, and with others who are associated with the aforementioned factors through conceptualized commonality.