Dragon Palace

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BriefNote

ThePrincess ftheDragonPalaceA NewShinto ect s Born

byBEN-AMIHILLONY

THEreligiouscene fJapans full fsurprises.ecentlyna visit hadthe pportunityostay or few ayswith hemembersf new hintosect hat uestionshe egitimacyf hemperialamily,emandsemaledomination,dentifiesusa-no-o ft:3 withJehovah,ndvenerates statueofJesus hristnoneofthe acredhrinesfShinto.Thegroup, hichsbased nOsaka, s headed y a sixty-year-oldhamaness,FujitaHimiko 1l2A-, who nmanyways its hedescriptionf foundersfNewReligionsnJapan s delineatedyCarmen lacker.' ujita omes roma poorfamilynKumamoto, here erfather as a policeman.n 1940 hegraduatedrom girls' igh chool nKurumendwent o work na factory.Asshe pentmuch fher ife npovertynd hardwork, hehad noopportunitytomarry. tthe geofthirty-fivehefelt strong rge odedicate erselforeligionndso, oininghe hugendoSA sect fesotericuddhism,he ivedfor ome imewithheyamabushiUPfnMt Omine. he aterwento ndia ndstudied ibetanamaismhere.On7October973,while isitinghe acred hintoite fAmanoiwatonhernative umamotorefecture,heunderwentforcefulysticalxperience.hefelt hedeity yuigiutohime gZ# enter erbody ndbecome ne with er.At thatmoment,hesays, he herselfurnedntoRyiigui tohime,n ancientgoddessebornna livingumanody. hesubsequentlyade studyfShintoandshamanism,nd n1981 hewas awardedhe itle fkami-mikoE*, or'divine hamaness',ythe zumuDaiingui hrine n KameokanearKyoto,where yuiguitohime adoriginallyeen nshrined. ith he upportfthatTHE AUTHORs AssociateProfessorn theDepartmentf East Asian Studies,HebrewUniversityfJerusalem.1 Carmen lacker,Millenarian spects fthe New ReligionsnJapan', n Donald H.

Shively, d., Traditionnd ModernizationnJapanese ulture, rinceton .P., 1971,pp.563-600; he Catalpa Bow:A Study ofShamanistic ractices n Japan, Allen &Unwin, ondon, 975.

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178 MonwnentaNipponica, xxix:2shrine he adopted hedeity's ame ndpronouncederselfobe thegoddessincarnate.

As in thecase ofother oundersf NewReligionsnJapan, hedeity hatpossessed ujitawas a minor iguren theShinto antheon. yuiguitohimeis knownromhepopularegend boutUrashima aro AhkM, young isher-manwho long ime go accordingotheNihongi*#, thedatewasA.D. 478)caught tortoisen hisnet.Pityinghe ittlereature,e threwt back nto hesea,whereuponhetortoiseurnednto beautifuloddess, yulgultohime,Princessfthe DragonPalace. Urashimaollowedheprincesso thebottomof theocean,whereheymarriednd livedhappilyormanyyears.OnedayUrashimaecame omesicknd sked ermissionovisit is arents.heprincessagreed nconditionhathecarry ith im lacquer oxwhichn noaccountshould e ever pen; he hen urned ack nto tortoisend carried im o theshore. nreaching isvillage, rashima as astonishedofind t nhabitedytotal trangersndrealizedhatmanyenturiesadpassed ince ehad eft ome.Hemadehisway ack othe hore nd,while aitingor he ortoiseoreappear,he couldnot esisthe emptationfopeninghe acquer ox.Thewaftf mokethat illowed utwasdelayed ime.Withineconds rashima'sody ged,hisskin hriveled,ishair urned hite,ndhe died.Accordingo Fujita's nterpretation,yfigfitohimes thedeity estinedosavemankind,rashima epresentshehuman acethatwasalmost avedbutwaspunished ecause thad sinned,ndthepalace t thebottom ftheoceansymbolizesaradise heremankind ill ive oreverfter eing aved.SomewhatikeOmoto k*, anotherhinto ectwith millenarianature,Fujita's heologys anamalgam fShintoegends, uddhistoncepts,hamanisticpractices,hristianeliefs,nd deas aken romWesterncience nd occultism.Fujita dmitshat hewas nfluencedyDeguchi ao nPik,hewomanounderofOmoto, ndOmoto's eadquartersnKameoka s close o the zumu aijinguiofOtohime.The most urprisingspect f theRyuiguitohime roup s that lthoughtis thoroughlyhintoist,t opposes hepresentmperors well s the mperialline.Accordingo Fujita's ssociates,hepresentmperors not reallyhesonof he mperoraish6. urthermore,ven fhewere he eal onof hat mperor,hewould till ack egitimacy,ecause eandhis ncestorsredescendantsf heNorthernranch f hemperialine,whichsurpedhe hroneromhe egitimateSouthernranch n thefourteenthentury.ujita's ppositiono the mperialfamily oes back evenfurther.hemaintainshat he ungoddess, materasuOmikami R)MO, usurped hemonarchyrom erelderbrother,he stormgodSusa-no-o, homhe ent ntobanishment.s a result he mperialamily,which escends romhe sun goddess,s an illegitimatesurper ynasty,helongrule f which asbrought own n Japanmany alamities,ncludinghetragedyf he acificWar.Theonlyway or apan o save tselfromven reaterdisastersn the uturesto restorehemonarchyo the egitimateouse fSusa-no-o.



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SHILLONY: The Princess f theDragon Palace 179The groupdoes not pointto any rival mperial amily s the descendantsfSusa-no-o, ut tdoesidentifyhatdeitywithRyuigii,heDragon Kingof the ea.

This identification eans thatRyiigul tohime, he daughter f the DragonKing, s also the legitimateulerof Japan.This conclusion s not spelled outexplicitly,ut he over fthegroup's ooklet,Ryuiguo ShioriU9 A, publishedin June1983,carries picture f Fujita dressed n white mperial obes andwearing crown n herhead.To stress ts loyalty o the Susa-no-ocause, the groupworships t IzumuDaijingul,which s believed o be theoriginal zumu Shrine Moto Izumu) ofSusa-no-obeforehe was banished o thecoast of the Sea ofJapan.They alsoorganize ilgrimagesotheMoto Ise Shrine n MtOe, believed obetheoriginalIse Shrine, nd to theKono ShrinenearAmanohashidate, hich tillprofessesloyaltyo thedeposedSouthern ranch fthe mperial ynasty.Havingchallenged he mperial stablishmentfJapan, ujita goesontochal-lenge ts social establishment.he criticizes he bureaucratic ast, that s, theKanto region, nd praises he cultural nd human'West.Mostofherfollowerscome from he Kansai and Kyushu regions.The truemeaningof the nameUrashima,heclaims,s therear fthe sland', hat s,the xploitedndneglectedWest.Japanese ociety,ccording o Fujita, s dominated ymales. The reversal fthe social orderthatshe preachesgoes back, like thedivinereversal, o timeimmemorial henwomen uled ociety. he ruleofmen, heclaims,hasbroughtwith t mmenseorrowso theworld nd it s time or he roles o change.Onlya mother eity an save theworld romtssufferings.yuiguo Shiori penswiththe slogan, O mother od, save theworld ',and later,on p. 12, there s thefollowing assage:Man is human, utwoman s divine.Men thereforehould espect omen ndlearn romhem.f man ries o ord toverwomennd reathem ontemptuouslyat home,t work,r atrecreation,e sfar emovedromod ndwillnotreceivethepassporto paradise, omatterowpioushisreligiouseliefsmaybe. Onlywhenll males everell femalesndregardhemsdescendantsf hemotherod

will hehuman acebe saved romestruction.Thisextreme rand offeminisms sharedby Fujita's disciples,whotreatheras a divinemother igure. he recentlymarriedhermale secretary, awamiYoshiharu IIXt, who is about twenty earsher unior.Kawami,who is incharge f thegroup'spublications,tays t homemost f thetime nvolvednthedomestic hores.Bothin publicand privatehe addresseshiswife s Otohime-sama.In her searchfor the 'real', forgotten,nd oppressed lements f Japanesesociety,Fujita found the hisabetsu urakumin IJINR. These oppressedpeople are,according o her, he ndigenousnhabitantsftheJapaneseslands,whichnthedistant ast were verrun ystrongernvaders rom heAsianmain-land,now the mainstock of theJapanesepeople.These invaders nslaved henative opulation, orced hem operformgnoble asks, ndfinallyurnedhem



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180 MonumentaNipponica, xxix:2into utcasts.hesalvationfJapanwill tartwithheiriberation.n order oshowher ympathyor hese eople, ujita stablisheder esidencendhead-quartersn an apartmentousen a sectionfOsakawhich,ccordingoher,sinhabited ainly yhisabetsuurakumin.he has also rented farmhousena hisabetsuurakuminillagennearby ameoka,where hemeets er ollowersonce week.Yet another roup f forgottenapanese'o which ujitahas directed erattentionrethe almost xtinctanka 4, or mountainwellers fwesternJapan. hesenomadicypsy-likeeople,whoused o make living yhunting,fortuneelling,llegal rade,ndhiringhemselvesutas ninjaUt,havebeendiscriminatedgainst hroughoutost fJapanese istory.ujita's ecretary-husband awamisa descendantf anka.

Carmen lackeraspointedut hatNewReligionsftenave yonaoshiai:,or world eform',lementhatmakes hem reachhereversalfthe xistingsocial rder.2nthedoctrinesftheOtohimeect his eversalppears ohavereached peakunsurpassedyanyotherect. urther,he nthropologistor-nelius uwehand as observedhatmillenarianxpectationsn mid-nineteenth-centuryapan ound heir rtisticxpressionnnamazu-eE, orcatfishrints.3It is indeed evealingo note hat he mage fa fish ccupies central ositionintheworld f theOtohimeroup. ujita efersoherselfs a ningyo), ormermaid,ndher ame ard arrieshe icturef fish. hementionshemiraclesperformedyJesus hristn andaroundhe ea as well s the ishymbol sedbyearly hristians.he claims hat heJapanese ordsmaX (sky),ma #c(woman iver),maJEnun), maR11 nurse),mefi (rain), mi# sea), andumut (to give irth),ll come romhe ame oot,whichroves hatwoman,god, ndwater re dentical.LikeOmoto, heOtohimeroup reachesn ideologyhat s bothnational-istic nduniversalistic.tsnationalisms rootednShintomythologynd nthesacrednessftheJapaneseslandsndtheJapanese eople.AccordingoFujita,Japans the ourcef llcultures.nancientimes, henMtFujiwasmuch iggerthan t snow,ultureriginatednJapannd hen lowedoallpartsf heworld,only oreturnater n theform f foreignnfluences'.hus, ccordingoher,Chinese anji evelopedrom apanese ana, ndnotviceversa s iscommonlysupposed. ndust s Japanwasthe ource fallculture,o itwill lso possessthe inal ulturef heworld,nd hemessiah ill ome rom apan.Notwithstandinghisflamboyantationalism,hegroup s also extremelycosmopolitannoutlook. orthepastdecade ujitahasbeen ravelinghrough-out heworldn searchf he ommon oots f ll religionsndcultures. llthereligionshat he has encounteredreregardeds local revelationsf Shintodeities nd havebeen ssigned heir roper lace nherShinto antheon. n

2 Blacker,Millenarianspects', . 594.3 Cornelius Ouwehand,Namazu-e and TheirThemes, rill,Leiden,1964.



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SHILLONY: The Princess f theDragon Palace 181hervisit o Israel n 1982,Fujitabought statue f JesusChristnNazareth ndlaterpersuaded hechief riest f IzumuDaijingul o install t nhisshrine. hisis possibly heonly ncient hintoplace ofworshipnJapanwhere he faithfulcan venerate hestatue fChrist.Fujita s also interestednJudaism,he mother eligion ftheWest.As thereexistsno equivalent tatueof the Jewish eity, he erected plate inscribed'Ehoba' on herShinto ltar thome ndplaceda Hebrew iblenear tso that heand herfollowers an now worshipJehovah longwith he Shintodeities.Ac-cording o Ryuiguo Shiori, . 14, Ehoba' is actually usa-no-o.Fujita acceptsthebiblicaldoctrine hat heJews rethe hosenpeopleofGod and, ike ome ofthenewChristian ects nJapan, heclaims hat heJapaneserethedescendantsofthe ten osttribes f Israel. t follows hat he biblicalmessiah s noneotherthanthedaughter f Susa-no-o, hat s, Ryiigui tohimeherself. ujita's con-victionndthatof herfollowershat he s themessiahwas strengthenedy herdiscovery hat theday on which he becameRyiigiiOtohime, October 1973(or6 OctobernIsraelbecauseofthetimedifference),as Yom Kippur, heDayofAtonement,heholiestJewish ayoftheyear,whenJews ast nd prayfortheir ersonal nd collective edemption. oreover, om Kippur1973was notan ordinary ay of Atonement,oron thatday Egypt nd Syria aunchedsurprise ttack on Israel,whicheventually vercamethe invasiononlywithdifficulty.Yet Fujita maintains Shintoisticnd shamanisticheory fJewish istory.On theeveofher1982visit o Israel, he wrote nhermagazineGekkanOtohime

ThemassacreftherefugeesnBeiruts a tragedy.uch tragedyhouldneveroccur gain,t should epulled utby tsroots. utwhat re tsroots? heangryspiritf sraelhas beenhauntingheworld or he astfour housandears. nlywhenhis ngrypiritspacifiedanmankindesaved.In theShintoorder fthings,vil s mischief rought ya spirit hathas beenwrongednthepast.To eradicatevil, ngry pirits ave tobepacified ytreatingthemwell. n otherwords, heJews reultimatelyesponsibleor hetroubles ntheworld, ut one shouldbe niceto them o nullifyheirwrath.As with hefounders fother eligiousects, ujitaclaims o perform iraclesas proof fherdivinity.hesaysthat twashervisit othepyramidsn 1977 hatinfluencedresident adat to makepeace with srael and thaton hervisit oJerusalemn 1982shebrought ainafter longperiodofdrought.hepracticesfaith ealing,ither ytouchinghe ffectedeopleorbyprayingor heir ealth.Fujitawill lso pray n request ormoremundanententions,uchas businesssuccessor passing xaminations.heseprayersre conductedna special roominherOsaka apartment, here ll thedeities-among hem, usa-no-o,Jehovah,and Ryuiguitohimeherself-arehoused.She is representedereby a picture fa mermaid nergingrom hewaves. The discipleswhofrequentheapartmentbegin heir isits yprayingndclapping heir andsbefore hispicture.



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182 MonumentaNipponica, xxix:2Besides hese trictlyeligiousctivities,ujita s also an energeticrganizer,spending anyhours ach day contactingerfollowersy phone, rranging

meetingsnd pilgrimages,nd attendingo thefinancialusiness f thegroup.Her mmediatessociatesreyoungmen ndoldwomen.hemen, ll referredoas 'Urashima', epresentvarietyfoccupations;mong hemre a computerengineer,heproprietorf a health-foodestaurant,lecturert a college fChinesemedicine, descendantfa ninja amily hoperformsspirit hoto-graphy',ndthe ditorf journal fmagic nd occultism.The group as notyet ecome n officialeligion,ut t s already evelopingall the rappingsfa new ect. tsheadquarterss organizeds an association,Ryuigiuuer6shippu -v-$/7 7' (Ryuiguiellowship,bbreviateds RFS;untilastyear twas alledOtohime uireikaiMKg6). The ssocationublishesGekkan tohime, hich as changedts title hisyear o Ryugu tohime,ndorganizesarious aily, eekly, onthly,ndyearlyites ndevents. henumberof Otohime'sollowerssnotknown ecause hedefinitionf follower'emainsvague; ome are enthusiasticisciples, thers re just sympathizers.everalhundredopiesof Gekkan tohimere printednd meetingsre attended yseveral ozenpeople.Only imewill ellwhetherhegroupwilldevelop ntomajor ect rwill emain bizarreuriosity.neway rother,tprovidesurtherevidence f thevitalitynd creativityhat haracterizehereligiouscene nJapan.

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