Ōnishi Aijirō

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Ōnishi Aijirō (大西 愛治郎, August 26, 1881 – Novemer 29, 1958) was a Japanese religious leader known as the founder of Honmichi, a Tenrikyo-based Shinshūkyō (Japanese new religion).^[1][2][3][4] Honmichi followers also refer to him as the Kanrodainin no Ri (甘露台人の理, The Principle of the Living Kanrodai).

Ōnishi Aijirō was born on August 26, 1881 in Uda, Nara as the youngest child of Kishioka Kichijirō (岸岡吉次郎) and Kisa (キサ).^[5]

Prior to his divine revelation in 1913, Aijirō served a Tenrikyo missionary. From 1907 to 1914, he was the head minister of the Yamaguchi Missionary Center (山口宣教所, Yamaguchi Senkyōsho) in Yamaguchi. He was poorly funded and suffered from many financial difficulties, including crippling debts.^[5]

On July 15, 1913, Ōnishi Aijirō, who was in Yamaguchi at the time, had a divine revelation during which God told him that he was the living kanrodai. Onishi then returned to Nara Prefecture and became a worker at a temporary hospital (set up to care for patients of the World War I typhoid fever and influenza pandemics) in Uda in 1917, a tax officer in Nara Prefecture in 1919, and an elementary school teacher in 1920. In June 1920, Aijiro's gained his first follower, Tsutsumi Torakichi, an official (役員, yakuin) of the Biwa Branch Church (琵琶支教会, Biwa Shikyōkai) who had read Aijirō's letters. He attracted more followers in 1923, many of whom were impoverished Tenrikyo ministers and officials. This was seen as a threat to Tenrikyo church authority, which excommunicated Aijirō with the revocation of his religious instructor's license on February 2, 1924. In January 1925, Ōnishi Aijirō officially established the Tenri Study Association (天理研究会, Tenri Kenkyūkai), which was later renamed Honmichi in 1950.^[5]

During World War II, he was imprisoned for lèse-majesté but was released after the war. In 1950, he renamed his organization as Honmichi.^[5]

Ōnishi Aijiro and his wife Ōnishi To'o had several children, including:

• Yoshinobu (born 1907)
• Aiko (born January 1910)
• Masanori (born December 1912)
• Tama (born 1916)

In 1958, Ōnishi Aijirō died. Aijirō's grandson, Ōnishi Yasuhiko (大西泰彦), took over as the leader in 1960 and was viewed as Aijirō's reincarnation, and hence as the new kanrodai.^[6]

In 1962, Honbushin (ほんぶしん), led by Aijirō's daughter Ōnishi Tama (大西玉; d. 1969) (whom Aijirō and Honbushin followers claim was the reincarnation of Nakayama Miki), separated from Honmichi.^[5]

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