Chapter 16: Every tradition: services and what they need · Part 8
Shinto
Konko and Tenrikyo each describe themselves as a religion of their own; Japan once classed both as Sect Shinto, so they sit beside the shrine here, as the Latter-day Saints sit under Christianity.
Shinto shrine
A Shinto shrine (jinja) in America, written from the small Japanese American shrines that survive in Hawaii, such as Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha–Dazaifu Tenmangu, the Izumo Taishakyo Mission and Hilo Daijingu, most of them branches holding a divided spirit of a head shrine in Japan. There are very few: about seven in Hawaii, down from some sixty before the war, a priest-led shrine in Los Angeles, and a handful of small independents; Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America closed its Washington grounds in 2023, and its kami went to British Columbia. A shrine is not a congregation. People come one by one through the day, pass under the torii, rinse at the chozuya, drop a coin in the offertory box, bow twice, clap twice and bow, and go; some buy an amulet, hang an ema, or book a prayer. A small core of supporters comes to the monthly rite, the tsukinamisai, on the 1st and the 15th, and hatsumode brings thousands over the first three days of the year. There is no sermon and no weekly service: the shrine's week is its open hours, and its rites are the monthly rite and the festivals.The money comes per service: the offertory box, amulets and talismans from the shrine office, prayers (kito) for a newborn, a bad-luck year or a new business, the 7-5-3 rite in November, blessings of houses, building sites and cars, and weddings before the kami; supporters belong to a sukeikai and pay dues. Death is kept away from the shrine, so funerals are held at a Buddhist temple. One priest, the guji, trained and ranked in Japan and here on a religious-worker visa, usually keeps a shrine with a spouse in the office, and losing the priest can close it; a few Hawaii shrines are kept by volunteers alone. Each shrine is an independent nonprofit with a lay board: no American shrine was found to belong to the Association of Shinto Shrines. Practice varies from shrine to shrine (Kotohira keeps its monthly rite on a Sunday, Izumo on the 10th), and much here is unverified.
4 required or forbidden in the building · services, rites, joining, giving, leaders and staff, life together, every item, and every factor →
Konko Churches of North America
A church of the Konko Faith (Konkokyo), founded in Okayama in 1859 when Kawate Bunjiro, the Founder, Ikigami Konko Daijin, received the Divine Call to give up farming and help people through mediation; it worships Tenchi Kane no Kami, the Divine Parent of the Universe. It sits under Shinto here because Japan classed it as Sect Shinto and it has stayed in that federation, but it describes itself as a universal faith of its own, neither simply Shinto nor Buddhist. Konko Churches of North America has thirteen churches in the United States and two in Canada, and Konko Missions in Hawaii six more; each is a few dozen households, mostly Japanese American families of three or four generations, with some converts. The heart of a church is mediation (toritsugi): a minister sits at the mediation seat beside the altar through the day, and anyone may come, pray, and speak freely of a worry or thanks, which the minister conveys to the Kami and records in a book. Sunday brings a service with the minister's talk, often a story of a difficulty met with faith, and members sharing their blessings; the first Sunday's monthly service remembers the dead of that month and celebrates birthdays; the Grand Ceremonies in spring and in November draw the year's biggest congregation, and thirty dawns of Winter Special Prayer open the year. The hall has three stations: the Kami's altar, the mediation seat, and the ancestors' altar; no images, no incense, no amulets. Giving is free will only: no dues, fees, or tithes, offerings in envelopes, and bazaars and mochitsuki. Ministers train at the seminary in Japan; many are women, and churches often pass to a minister's child, with the family living at the church. Konko churches are liberal and welcoming, marrying same-sex couples. What's sent to the regional body and its authority aren't published, and are estimates here.
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Tenrikyo
A local church of Tenrikyo, "the Teaching of Divine Reason", founded in 1838 when Nakayama Miki, Oyasama, became the Shrine of God the Parent, who wishes all people to live the Joyous Life, helping one another. It sits under Shinto here because the Japanese state placed it under Shinto supervision and recognised it as a Shinto sect in 1908, but Tenrikyo describes itself as a religion of its own: after the war it set itself apart from Shinto, leaving the Sect Shinto federation in 1970. In America it has two mission headquarters, in Los Angeles (1934, for the mainland and Canada) and Honolulu (1954), and churches and smaller fellowships, many only a family and a handful of followers, mostly Japanese American families of three or four generations, with some converts. The head minister's family lives in the church, and the church runs every day: morning and evening services facing toward the Jiba in Tenri, the place of human origin. Its great gathering is the monthly service, the Dance with Hand Movements to the Mikagura-uta and the nine instruments, played and danced by members on a rota they practise for, so a church needs enough trained members to fill it; a sermon and prayers for the sick follow. Each church sets its own day (the game takes the third Sunday). Belonging runs up a line of parent churches, not across a town: each church has a parent church and a grand church, often in Japan, under Church Headquarters, and offerings and pilgrims go up the line (the share sent is an estimate). The committed hear the nine Besseki lectures at the Jiba and receive the Sazuke, becoming yoboku who pray for the sick; hinokishin, service done in gratitude, is everyday practice, and the church reaches out actively. The head minister is installed by Headquarters, usually a son or son-in-law succeeding, and serves with a spouse. Offerings are given in envelopes; there are no fees. Much here comes from the missions' published pages, and practice varies from church to church.
3 required or forbidden in the building · services, rites, joining, giving, leaders and staff, life together, every item, and every factor →