For two years now I have had the privilege of performing on stage with the wonderfully supportive, talented, and hilarious group of students who make up the Stanford Improvisors (known as the SImps). These students are not just my artistic partners when it comes to improvised theater; they are my close friends and people I deeply trust. You can visit our website at simps.stanford.edu - there are lots of funny movie trailer-style promo videos from our past shows up on the site that you can view to get a flavor for the group.
I have also had the privilege throughout my academic career to learn from truly insightful, brilliant, and inspiring teachers. One such teacher and mentor is Patricia Ryan Madson, a former near thirty year faculty member of the Stanford Drama Department, and the original founder of our group the SImps. Patricia has written a truly wonderful book entitled, “Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up.” Patricia loves traditional Japanese art and culture more than I do, and is very knowledgeable about it, having spent extensive time in the country. Many principles she learned from her time in Japan and from Eastern philosophy make their way into her book, alongside her truly unique view of how the art of improvising can lead to a healthy and happy life. You owe it to yourself to check out her book! Please visit her website www.improvwisdom.com for more information.
Patricia has been connected with one of Japan's new religions, Oomoto, literally “the origin” in Japanese, since 1980 and she served as my door into the organization for a term paper I was writing. Oomoto is a sect of Shinto and finds its origins with Nao Deguchi, a poor illiterate Japanese woman who was said to have been possessed by the spirit of God in 1892 and prompted by the spirit to lead mankind in an effort to reinstate the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. The illiterate Nao wrote over two thousand pages of Hiragana calligraphic scripture while possessed by the spirit of God. These writings, along with “Tales from the Spirit World,” written by the co-founder of Oomoto, Onisaburo Deguchi, make up the spiritual canon of Oomoto.
Among its unique features, Oomoto believes that traditional Japanese art such as pottery, Noh theater, the tea ceremony, and calligraphy is the “mother of religion,” and that by practicing such art forms, one cleanses the body and mind and becomes closer to God. Every Spiritual Leader of Oomoto has engaged in some sort of traditional Japanese art form. You can see examples of Nao’s original holy calligraphic writings and Onisaburo’s pottery and paintings down below.
Oomoto is also unique in that its co-founder Onisaburo Deguchi adopted Esperanto as one of the religion’s official languages, because he believed it to be the universal language with which the world’s religions could communicate with each other. Since its creation, Oomoto has been concerned with uniting the world’s religion under a belief in the same one-true God, and ending war and hatred. Oomoto strives for peace and prosperity for all the people of the world, and is active in the global humanitarian effort as well as many world religious forums.
There are currently over 150 thousand Oomoto followers. Most are in Japan, though there is also a large contingent in Sao Paulo, Brazil. As proscribed by the holy scripture, the Spiritual Leaders of Oomoto must be female descendants of Nao Deguchi.
I visited Oomoto’s educational center in Kameoka, Japan – the birthplace of co-founder Onisaburo Deguchi (about a half hour from Kyoto by train) - and met with Tanaka-san, the director of Oomoto’s International Department. He walked me around the Oomoto grounds, situated in the forestland amongst the ruins of the old Kameoka Castle. There is one large shrine with an altar and Noh stage in it. There is also a traditional tea house, botanical garden, dormitories, and classrooms, as well as tons of protected forestland. Oomoto’s premiere shrine and spiritual center is located about one hour away from Kameoka in the city of Ayabe (the hometown of Nao Deguchi).
I cannot possibly condense all that I have recently learned about Oomoto into this short blog post. It is a truly unique and fascinating religion, no matter which lens you look at it through. If you have an interest in religious studies, or traditional Japanese art and culture, I highly recommend that you check out their website. For more information on Oomoto, please visit www.oomoto.or.jp
Please enjoy the pictures below from my trip to the Oomoto grounds in Kameoka, Japan.
B.E.W.
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