Makoto no Michi

Makoto no Michi (真の道) (lit. 'The Sincere Path') is a Shinto-based Japanese new religion. The headquarters of Makoto no Michi is located in Kasuya, Tokyo. Waterfall meditation, which is also a shugendo practice, is one of its main practices.^[1]

Makoto no Michi
真の道
Makoto no Michi's headquarters
Scripture	Makoto no Michi shinji (真の道神示) (2 volumes)
Headquarters	Kasuya, Tokyo
Founder	Hagiwara Makoto (萩原真)
Origin	1949
Official website	www.makoto.or.jp

History

In 1948, the religion was founded as Chidori-kai (千鳥会). Hagiwara Makoto (萩原真, 1910–1981), who had returned from China after World War II, registered it as a religious organization in 1949 and became its leader. In 1952, the organization's name was changed to Makoto no Michi.^[2][3]

One of Hirohito's former aides claimed that Empress Nagako's lady-in-waiting Imaki Yoshiko (今城誼子) was a follower of Makoto no Michi, and that the empress herself may have been influenced by the religion as she was looking for a way to alleviate Hirohito's illness during his later years.^[4]

Spiritual leaders

In order of succession, the spiritual leaders (教え主) of Makoto no Michi are:^[3]

1. Hagiwara Makoto (萩原真): founder and leader from the religion's founding until his death in 1981
2. Hagiwara Shinmei (萩原真明): son of Hagiwara Makoto and leader from February 1982 to May 2023
3. Nagasawa Meishin (永澤明眞): leader from May 2024 to present

Beliefs and practices

Divine revelations

Makoto no Michi practices the receiving of divine revelations (神示, shinji) (お伝え), in which a spirit medium (神伝え人) under divine possession works together with a spirit mediator known as a saniwa (審神者) (サニワ), along with various ritual assistants^[5] (see also chinkon kishin).^[6]

Geography

Makoto no Michi's sacred geography is derived from that of Oomoto founder Onisaburo Deguchi's Reikai Monogatari, in which Japan is viewed as a model (雛形, hinagata) or microcosm of the world. Hokkaido is viewed as the equivalent of North America, Honshu as Eurasia, Shikoku as Australia, Kyushu as Africa, and Taiwan as South America; these equivalences stem from their common mythical origins during the creation of the world.^[7] The geographic equivalents of the main Japanese islands and Taiwan with the world's continents are identical in both Oomoto^[8] and Makoto no Michi. For comparison, Oomoto's headquarters in Ayabe has a garden with islands that represent the same set of islands and continents.^[9]

For mountains and lakes, equivalents include:^[7]

• Hokkaido – North America
  • Daisetsuzan – Rocky Mountains
• Honshu – Eurasia
  • Lake Towada – Lake Baikal
  • Mount Gassan – Central Siberian Plateau
  • Lake Suwa – Lake Manasarovar / Mount Kailash
  • Mount Kisokoma – Mount Sinai
  • Mount Fuji – Himalayas / Mount Everest
• Shikoku – Australia
  • Mount Tsurugi – Uluru
• Kyushu – Africa
  • Mount Aso – Kilimanjaro
• Taiwan – South America
  • Yu Shan – Aconcagua

Locations

Makoto no Michi's administrative headquarters is in Kasuya, Tokyo. The religion also has a waterfall meditation site at Nigitama-no-miya (和魂宮; also called Tsuki-miya 月宮) just north of Mount Takao. Makoto no Michi's "inner temple" (Oku-miya 奥宮) is Naohi-no-miya (直毘宮), located in Nasu, Tochigi.^[10]

Books

Makoto no Michi has published about a dozen books, a few of which include:^[11]

• Makoto no Michi shinji / 真の道神示 (1972)
• Makoto no Michi shinji: vol. 2 / 真の道神示 第二集 (2000)

Other books include:

• 真を求めて:萩原真自伝
• 飛翔:萩原真先生を偲ぶ
• 大峰老仙:わしはピヨピヨじゃったよ
• 守護霊様と私（第二集）
• 真手入門
• 天源
• 車に乗った巫女

Books in the Makoto no Michi o motomete (まことの道を求めて) series:

1. 天命が見える
2. 梶さんの霊界通信
3. 人間の幸福