is the main headquarters of the Tenrikyo religion, located in Tenri, Nara, Japan. This establishment is significant to followers because it is built around the Jiba, the spot where followers believe God (known in Tenrikyo as Tenri-O-no-Mikoto) conceived humankind.

Organization Hierarchy

The organization of Tenrikyo Church Headquarters consists primarily of the headquarters proper (本部 honbu), grand churches (大教会 daikyōkai), branch churches (分教会 bunkyōkai), and dioceses (教区 kyōku). Under the management of the main headquarters is a dual organizational structure, such that the grand churches and branch churches minister to adherents genealogically while the dioceses minister to adherents geographically.

At the top of the church hierarchy is the Shinbashira, who is defined as the "spiritual and administrative leader" of Tenrikyo Church Headquarters.

Many of the current grand churches were established by missionaries around the turn of the twentieth century, and typically the head ministers of the grand churches are hereditary or adoptive successors of those first missionaries. The head ministers of the grand churches are closely affiliated with the headquarters and supervise the daughter and granddaughter churches under their pastoral care, called branch churches. Therefore, the majority of branch churches belong to a grand church, and the two form the ecclesiastical equivalent of a parent-child relationship. However, a small group of branch churches happen to be directly affiliated with the headquarters for historical or administrative reasons.

The diocese is responsible for supervising the Tenrikyo churches in a given prefecture. The diocese administrator approves church maintenance, fiscal budgets, and the hiring and dismissal of church staff.

Doctrine

Liturgy and prayer

Sanctuaries Main Sanctuary

The Main Sanctuary (神殿 Shinden) houses the Kanrodai, the stand that marks the Jiba where adherents believe God conceived humankind.

The earliest sanctuary was the Tsutome basho (つとめ場所, 'Place for the Service'), constructed by the carpenter Iburi Izo in 1864.『改訂天理教辞典』 Kaitei Tenrikyo jiten, p. 560. In the Taishō period, a major construction project was undertaken, and as a result what is currently the north section of the Main Sanctuary was completed in December 1913.『改訂天理教辞典』 Kaitei Tenrikyo jiten, pp. 506–507. Another construction project took place during the Shōwa period, which led to the completion of the south section in 1934.『改訂天理教辞典』 Kaitei Tenrikyo jiten, pp. 434–435. The west and east sections were expanded from 1977 to 1984.『改訂天理教辞典』 Kaitei Tenrikyo jiten, p. 667.

Foundress' Sanctuary

The Foundress' Sanctuary (教祖殿 Kyōsoden) is a building dedicated to the foundress of Tenrikyo, Nakayama Miki. It is characterized by a green copper roof.

The first sanctuary was a temporary structure constructed in 1895. As part of a major construction effort during the Taishō period, the Foundress’ Sanctuary was completed in April 1914. This building is currently used as the Memorial Hall (see below). In the Shōwa period, another major construction took place, and as a result a larger Foundress' Hall was completed and dedicated on October 25, 1933.Oyasato Institute for the Study of Religion (1997). Kyōsoden [Foundress' Sanctuary]. In Kaitei Tenrikyo jiten 改訂天理教事典. (p. 277). Tenri, Japan: Tenrikyō Dōyūsha.

Memorial Hall

The Memorial Hall (祖霊殿 Soreiden) is a memorial that honors deceased Tenrikyo adherents, located northwest of the Main Sanctuary and connected by a sanctuary corridor.Oyasato Institute for the Study of Religion (1997). Soreiden [Memorial Hall]. In Kaitei Tenrikyo jiten 改訂天理教事典. (p. 500). Tenri, Japan: Tenrikyō Dōyūsha.

The earliest memorial dedicated to Tenrikyo followers was inside the Tsutome basho (Place for the Service), an early worship hall. As part of a major construction effort during the Taisho era, a memorial was built in the middle of the corridor connecting the Main Sanctuary and the Foundress' Sanctuary. The current Memorial Hall structure was also built during this time, though it was conceived originally as the Foundress' Sanctuary. In 1914, memorial services (mitamasai) began to be conducted in the spring and fall of each year. In 1933, the current structure for the Foundress’ Sanctuary was constructed, and the previous structure was renamed the Memorial Hall.

Inside the Memorial Hall, there are three altars. The middle altar honors deceased members of the Nakayama family, including the late Shinbashiras and their wives, as well as the early disciples Izo Iburi, Naraito Ueda, and Chushichi Yamanaka. The right altar honors deceased performers of the Service conducted at Tenrikyo Church Headquarters. The left altar honors deceased church ministers and followers.

Oyasato-yakata

The oyasato-yakata ( or ) complex is a collection of buildings in Tenri City, Nara, Japan, that form an incomplete square on each side surrounding the Divine Residence (Oyasato). The task of revitalizing the area around the Residence was informed by both religious prophecy and city planning, and construction began in 1954 on a project that continues today. The oyasato-yakata is a massive organizational undertaking that is understood by Tenrikyo adherents as a spiritual practice,Tadashi Yamamoto. "The northwest corner of Tenrikyo Oyasato-Yakata building complex". Process: Architecture 123 (1995), 38–9 creating a model city that reflects their belief in a Joyous Life. As such a practice it has involved the entire Tenrikyo community, from the volunteers who assist in construction to professors who plan the scope of future wings. Archaeologists have also excavated ancient artifacts beneath its foundations.

The complex includes Tenri University, Tenri Hospital, Tenri Seminary, the Besseki Lecture Hall, the Shuyoka, dormitories, and Tenri High School. Currently 25 wings of the complex are complete. The complete structure calls for 68 wings.The Path to the Joyous Life: Tenrikyo. Tenri: Tenri Overseas Department, February 2001. p.24.

Origins At the beginning of the 20th century, the teachings of Tenrikyo's foundress Oyasama Miki became popular throughout Japan. In the following decades, the most devoted followers coalesced around Oyasama's residence in rural Nara, which she had perceived as the birthplace of the world, or Jiba. The six villages surrounding the Jiba slowly became filled with Tenrikyo ministers, mystics, and evangelists, and the area was urbanized. A popular international school (now Tenri University) and Tenri Central Library, built by followers, were also attracting a variety of people to the area. It was around this time that Tenrikyo's Second Shinbashira (community leader) Shōzen Nakayama conceived of creating a grand construction project as a testament to the loyalty of Oyasama's followers. Masahiro Yamaguchi and Kazuhiko Niwa, "The Transition Process of Urban Area Surrounding the Oyasato-Yakata," 日本建築学会研究報告 48 (2009), 709

In 1934, Nakayama commissioned the famed architect Yoshikazu Uchida to draw up a blueprint for the area. Uchida arranged ten buildings around Oyasama's Residence. A 50-meter boulevard would come out of the Residence on a north–south axis, along which six school buildings would be lined up. Classrooms and large auditoriums would be built at the end of this boulevard. The international school and library were to be eventually integrated into this plan. In January 1937, a middle school (now Tenri High School) was built according to Uchida's plan, but as Japan mobilized for the Pacific War the plan had to be temporarily shelved.

In 1952, after the war and Occupation, Tenrikyo Chief of Architecture Onzō Okumura (奥村音造) was asked by Nakayama to design a large Besseki Lecture Hall to accommodate 10,000 people on the site of an old girls' school. However, considering the location of the school, several hundred meters to the west of the Residence. Okumura thought back to an old prophecy of Oyasama, as recorded in Tenrikyo's Anecdotes:

Since Tenrikyo was at the time a tiny cult centered on a house in a farming village, the growth of Tenri into a city full of inns paralleling this prophecy was seen as miraculous. In the Osashizu these prophecies are repeated, with the admonition that "it will not do to think of small things." The original idea was that the planned school buildings and classrooms would be the first part of an enormous central hub that would eventually fill eight cho square. But Okumura began to consider the relationships between the planned buildings and the Residence. If other buildings were placed directly next to the Residence, he reasoned, they would put the Residence in shadow during the sunrise, and metaphorically crowd out the importance of the Jiba itself. Thus, with Nakayama's permission, he developed a new overarching plan for the school, library, and other Tenrikyo buildings surrounding the Residence. His new plan, which arranged the buildings in a great square with open space on the inside, was dubbed the oyasato-yakata, roughly meaning the "grounds of Oyasama's Residence".

In 1954 the Japanese government merged the six villages surrounding the Residence into a single city, which was dubbed Tenri City. In the same year, the Tenrikyo central church announced the construction of the first wing of the yakata. The continuing development of the oyasato-yakata is currently overseen by a committee with a small office in Tenri Seminary.

Construction

The yakata was designed along the lines of Edo period tenement housing (長屋), but modernized with reinforced walls, multiple stories, and balconies for emergency access. The result is a fusion between Western and Japanese architecture. Gaps were purposefully left in the ground floors for pedestrians, making the yakata a walkable space. The balconies and rooftops were also designed to please the eye at the ground level. At the same time, the roofs are visible from Oyasama's gravesite north of the city.

As construction began, Tenrikyo followers founded the Oyasato Construction Young Men's Association Hinokishin Corps, which volunteered time and labor to help build the yakata. The corps still continues their work today.Inside Report in Honor of 50th Anniversary of Young Men's Assn. Hinokishin Corps . Tenrikyo newsletter, December 2004 By 1956, one corner of the complex had been built at the cost of 23 billion yen, an enormous expense given the economic depression of the time.Mika Tokuchika, "Reminiscences of Religion in Postwar Japan" Contemporary Religions in Japan 7.2 (June 1966), 265

When part of the foundations for the complex were dug in 1977, an archaeological investigation uncovered prehistoric artifacts,Masaaki Okita, "Outline of Academic Excavation Accompanying Construction in Furu-cho, Tenri-shi, Nara-ken #200, Oyasato-yakata East Right Wing 4" 「奈良県天理市布留町200番地おやさとやかた東右第四棟建設に伴う学術的発掘調査の概要」 (1977). As quoted in Gina Lee Barnes, Protohistoric Yamato: Archaeology of the First Japanese State (Detroit: University of Michigan, 1988), 421, 463 as is typical during construction in Tenri. Although it was a sparsely inhabited village in Oyasama's time, Tenri City lies on top of a confirmed cultural center of prehistoric Japan.Jonathan Edward Kidder. Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007), 245, 261

Timeline of construction