Fuso-kyo

   One of the thirteen groups of sect Shinto (kyoha shinto). Fuso is a name for Japan. The original inspiration of Fuso-kyo is said to be Hasegawa, Kakugyo (1541-1646) a devotee of the religious ascent of Mt. Fuji but the person usually regarded as its founder lived three hundred years later. Shishino, Nakaba (1844-1884) began to attract followers devoted to climbing Mt. Fuji in 1875 and his group was recognised as an independent sect in 1882. Like Ontake-kyo the sect worships the deity of the mountain, in this case Sengen Daishin the deity of Mt. Fuji. The sect teaches that reverence for the kami and ancestors benefits both the devotee and the nation. The Jikko-kyo sect also claims Hasegawa as its founder.