Ijun

Ijun (Japanese: 龍泉, Ryūsen; Okinawan: Ijun) is an Okinawan new religion founded in 1972 by Rokurō Takayasu (高安 六郎, later known as Ryūsen; 1934–2018), a former Kumiodori theatre actor.^[1] From 1977 the founder delivered daily radio sermons on FM Okinawa.^[1]

Ijun
龍泉
Type	New religious movement
Founder	Ryūsen (Takayasu Rokurō)
Headquarters	Okinawa
Founder	Takayasu Rokurō (later Ryūsen; 1934–2018)
Origin	1972 Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

The movement was registered as a religious corporation in 1980 and joined the Shinshūkyō Rengōkai (Federation of New Religious Organizations of Japan) the same year.^[2]

Beliefs and practices

Ijun teaches that a universal life force comparable to Chinese qi exists throughout the cosmos and is called Uchinā chikara (内力, “Okinawan inner power”). Followers are encouraged to awaken and cultivate this force.^[2]

A central deity is Kinmanmon (君真物, Kimmamun), a god who, according to Ijun mythology, went into hiding after the 1609 invasion of Ryukyu by Satsuma and reappeared to the founder in 1973 after 360 years.^[2] Kinmanmon is identified with the deity mentioned in the 17th-century Ryūkyū Shintō-ki by Taichū Ryōtei.^[3]

The movement also reveres protective stone guardians (related to the Chinese Shigandang tradition) but reinterprets them as manifestations of Ryūgū Shukusei Konpon Gohōshin (“Fundamental Protecting Deity of the Dragon Palace Constellation”), a god said to originate from the Okinawan otherworld of Nirai Kanai.^[4]

Branches

Most followers live in Okinawa, but from the 1980s Ijun expanded overseas. “Sister temples” (shima-imiya) exist in Yokohama, Taiwan, and Hawaii. In Hawaii the movement is supported mainly by first- and second-generation Okinawan immigrants; some local teachings identify the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele as an incarnation of Kinmanmon.^[2]

In Changhua City, Taiwan, the Taoist Zhendong Temple (彰化鎮東宮) enshrines Kinmanmon alongside Chinese deities and natural stone spirits and functions as an Ijun branch.^[2]