Salt Lake City, Nara

By Japanzine

Stepping out of Tenri station, you might think you are still in good ole, "normal" Japan. You'd be f**king wrong. Indeed, Tenri IS a nice, mid-sized city in Nara prefecture (over 70,000 pop.). It's surrounded by historic areas such as the Yamato Aogaki Quasi-National Park in the east, the Kongo Ikoma Quasi-National Park in the west, and Nara City, Japan's former capital, in the north. Ok, fair enough, but then the weirdness sets in like lockjaw on a boy with a rusty nail in his foot. Tenri has no factories, no large businesses, no snack bars, no prostitution (and we looked damn HARD), and only one eikaiwa school! Yet it boasts a large university, fancy high school and a massive hospital. Oh, and the population doubles during various times of the year.

 The city's main export happens to be (cue twilight zone music)… religion! Over 90% of the inhabitants of Tenri City are followers of Tenrikyo, a religion that started in 1838 when a rich, 41-year-old woman named Miki Nakayama did a sit-in healing/incantation for a Shinto priest, and suddenly uttered the words, "I am the God of Origin, God in Truth… I have descended here to save all humankind. I wish to receive Miki as the Shrine of God."

For 50 years, Miki (a living shrine to God) preached and penned her message, creating a 1,711-verse poem that is used as a bible by Tenrikyo members. Her spirit, known as ‘Oyasama' or ‘the parent', is said to live on at the Tenri headquarters.

Tenrikyo, while having similarities to many religions – including its evangelism, a "return to God"/salvation theme – is very unusual in that it was mainly created by one person, relatively recently, and is totally unaffiliated with Shinto or Buddhism.

Some of the more interesting features of the religion are:
The Jiba (origin of all mankind). Apparently the origin of all humanity is conveniently located in the center of the Tenrikyo main shrine, marked by a hexagonal wooden object, which will be covered by the ‘dew of God' when all humanity converts/is saved.

The Service. Consisting of the Kagura (a dance done with masks) and the Te-odori (a dance done with hand movements), this event is performed on the 26th of every month and purifies the mind and heart, creating perfect salvation for those who watch it.

The followers. Tenri City alone has 200 dormitories, which can accommodate up to 70,000 followers. Worldwide, Tenrikyo has 2,350,000 members and 15,000 churches (including, notably, 225 churches in North America). Quite remarkable for such a ‘domestic' religion.

On a positive note, Tenrikyo followers did not believe in Japan's wartime government, and the religion was heavily suppressed for not supporting the Shinto-centered Emperor-worship ideology.

Tenrikyo attracted many followers early on, due to the "Grant of safe childbirth." This involved a simple prayer, and doing away with inhumane birthing superstitions such as requiring women to wear a `birthing belt` during pregnancy, to give birth in a squatting position and to sleep upright.

Tenrikyo is matriarchal, as opposed to the Judeo-Christian-Muslim patriarchy. God, as Mom, tends to lead to more peaceful societies, as some history would suggest.

Tenrikyo supports numerous charities, relief efforts, and does a lot of cleaning of neighborhoods, beaches, and other public areas.

Most of Tenri's buildings – the dorms, the high school, even the hospital — are built in a kind of ancient Chinese/Showa-era/60s concrete fusion. Kinda kitsch, kinda cool. The main temple is the oldest and most beautiful structure, its old-school J-architecture kept spotless by 24-hour cleaning by its followers. (Tenriites believe sin is caused by `dust` gathering on the soul, and see physical acts as a metaphor for the spiritual. Go figure.)

Unlike the Mormons' inner sanctum, the Tenri main temple is open to unbelievers. We were allowed to walk anywhere we wanted within the 800 meters of the building. In some rooms people were casually praying (doing the te-odori hand dance and singing), while in others, the solemnity and seriousness of prayer was quite tangible. We walked by women receiving the Sazuke, or Divine Grant, an official license to begin spreading the word and recruiting followers.

To my dismay, no one tried to convert us while we were there. We found everyone to be quite friendly, and encountered zero hostility. As an added bonus, arriving a few days after New Year, we also received massive bags of mochi, free, from God herself!

While a trip to Tenri temple may not be reason enough to go there, there are a number of other, interesting things to see and do in the area. The Yamanobe-no-michi is the oldest road in Japan. Some parts are lovely, while some parts are paved over. Several Nara-period Emperors are buried along it in the distinctive kofun tombs.

The Isonokami Shrine is yet another shrine competing for the "oldest in Japan" title, but it might have a good claim to the moniker.

Since Tenri followers often give up their material possessions, there are some really cool thrift stores in the shopping arcade outside the station. We found very fancy Japanese dolls for ¥315, and kotos, shamisens, and shodo wall hangings for only ¥2000!

Getting there:
From Namba Station: Take the Kintetsu Nara Line to Saidaiji Station, then the Kintetsu Tenri Line to Tenri. 1hr, ¥670.
From Kyoto Station: Kintetsu Express direct to Tenri. 1hr, ¥730.

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