Deguchi, Nao

(1836-1918)

   She came to prominence as the near-destitute widow of a drunken and spendthrift carpenter with whom she had eleven children, the majority of whom died in tragic circumstances. In January 1892 she dreamed of the spirit world and shortly afterwards was seized in a violent divine possession by the deity Ushitora no Konjin and began prophesying around the town. She was discovered to have healing powers and attracted a group of believers in the Kyoto area. In 1898 she was approached by Ueda, Kisaburo (= Deguchi, Onisaburo) who had similarly experienced a divine revelation. Ueda married Nao's daughter Sumi and subsequently worked with Nao to develop her teachings as the religion called Omoto-kyo. The main teachings of the early movement are found in Nao's o-fude-saki ('from the holy pen'; written prophecies and oracles), which amounted by the end of her life to more than 10,000 sections. The gist of her teaching, as developed with Onisaburo, was that the world as it stood was socially unjust and cosmically disordered and was about to be 'reconstructed' under the glorious reign of Ushitora-no-konjin, the primal deity. This would be brought about by followers realising that they were united with the kami.