# Kitamura Sayo > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kitamura_Sayo > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kitamura_Sayo.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitamura_Sayo > Source revision: 1356251315 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Founder of the Tensho Kotai Jingukyo religious movement}} {{family name hatnote|Kitamura|lang=Japanese}} {{Infobox person | name = Kitamura Sayo | image = Ogamisama Prophet of Tabuse deskewed.jpg | caption = Kitamura in 1954 | native_name = 北村サヨ | native_name_lang = ja | birth_date = January 1, 1900 | birth_place = [Yanai, Yamaguchi](/source/Yanai%2C_Yamaguchi), Japan | death_date = December 28, 1967 | death_place = [Tabuse, Yamaguchi](/source/Tabuse%2C_Yamaguchi), Japan | occupation = Founder of the [Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō](/source/Tensh%C5%8D_K%C5%8Dtai_Jing%C5%ABky%C5%8D) | title = Ōgamisama (大神様) }} thumb|right|Sayo Kitamura's historical residence, located at the Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō headquarters thumb|right|Ogamisama Memorial Hall {{Nihongo|'''Kitamura Sayo'''|北村 サヨ||January 1, 1900 {{En dash}} December 28, 1967}} was the Japanese founder of the "dancing religion", [Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō](/source/Tensh%C5%8D_K%C5%8Dtai_Jing%C5%ABky%C5%8D) (天照皇大神宮教). In the religion, she is known by her followers as {{nihongo|'''Ogamisama'''|大神様}}. == Early life == Kitamura was born on January 1, 1900, in what is now [Yanai city, Yamaguchi](/source/Yanai%2C_Yamaguchi) prefecture, Japan. She was the fourth daughter in a farming family of [Jōdo Shinshū](/source/J%C5%8Ddo_Shinsh%C5%AB) Buddhists. She married in November 1920 and moved to [Tabuse](/source/Tabuse), Yamaguchi to be with her husband.{{Cite web|url=http://k-amc.kokugakuin.ac.jp/DM/detail.do?class_name=col_eos&data_id=22890|title=國學院デジタルミュージアム|website=k-amc.kokugakuin.ac.jp|access-date=2019-11-06}}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} == Career == In July 1942, a barn on the Kitamura property burned down. Blaming herself for the incident, Kitamura began visiting a [shaman](/source/Shamanism).{{Cite journal|last=Hamrin|first=Tina|date=1996-01-01|title=Dance as Aggressiveness|journal=Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis|volume=16|pages=175–192|doi=10.30674/scripta.67228|issn=2343-4937|doi-access=free}} On May 4, 1944, Kitamura was possessed by a spirit, which was later said to be [Tensho Kotaijin](/source/Amaterasu).{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tensho-Kotai-Jingu-kyo|title=Tenshō Kōtai Jingū-kyō {{!}} Japanese religion|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-11-06}} She had her first sermon on July 22, 1945, during which she preached she had been sent to save the world, because it was about to end.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iW3-AQAAQBAJ&q=sayo+kitamura&pg=PA145|title=Japanese New Religions in Global Perspective|last=Clarke|first=Peter B.|date=2013-11-05|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136828652|language=en}} She said that people should become "true human beings" in order to create a peaceful "land of god", and that [Japan's defeat](/source/Surrender_of_Japan) in [World War II](/source/World_War_II) was just the prelude to a battle between good and evil. Her sermons included singing and dances of "non-ego", which earned the group the nickname "the dancing religion". In 1946, she incorporated the sect as the Tensho Kotai Jingu Kyo. Her son, Yoshito, performed the administrative functions of the new religion.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/07/10/archives/in-japan-this-coed-is-a-goddess.html|title=In Japan, This Coed Is a 'Goddess'|last=Tolbert|first=Kathryn|date=1973-07-10|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-11-06|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} As the religion became more established, she became more critical of politicians, the [emperor](/source/Emperor_of_Japan),{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5cQH17-HnMC&q=%22Kitamura+Sayo%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA481|title=Holy People of the World: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia|last=Jestice|first=Phyllis G.|date=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781576073551|language=en}} and other people in power, calling them "maggots". She gained much negative media attention, which she successfully used to publicize her group and gain followers.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-t1DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Kitamura+Sayo%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT85|title=Dynamism and the Ageing of a Japanese 'New' Religion: Transformations and the Founder|last1=Baffelli|first1=Erica|last2=Reader|first2=Ian|date=2018-12-13|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9781350086531|language=en}} In 1952, Kitamura went on a mission trip to [Hawaii](/source/Hawaii). Her first overseas branch was in [Kalihi](/source/Kalihi), Hawaii. Soon, more branches were formed throughout the world, including in [Europe](/source/Europe), [Africa](/source/Africa), and [South America](/source/South_America). She eventually had over 300,000 followers. Kitamura died in her home on December 28, 1967. In 1968, her granddaughter, Kitamura Kiyokazu, became head of the religion. == Family == Sayo Kitamura's family members and descendants are: *Himegamisama (姫神様)Tensho-kotai-jingu-kyo (n.d.). ''Everspreading Kingdom of God'' (開けゆく神の国). Tabuse: Tensho-kotai-jingu-kyo. – granddaughter, born Kiyokazu Kitamura (北村清和, April 27, 1950 – June 7, 2006), who succeeded Sayo Kitamura as the second spiritual leader of Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō{{cite book | last=Dorman | first=Benjamin | title=Celebrity Gods: New Religions, Media, and Authority in Occupied Japan | chapter=Kitamura Sayo: Celebrity in the Maggot World | publisher=University of Hawai'i Press | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-8248-3621-4 | jstor=j.ctt6wqd4v.10 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wqd4v.10}} {{cite | last=Tolbert | first=Kathryn | title=In Japan, This Coed Is a 'Goddess' | date=1973-07-10 | work=The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/07/10/archives/in-japan-this-coed-is-a-goddess.html | access-date=2026-04-06}}{{cite web | author=Indian Theravādin bhikṣus | title=Women of Buddhism | website=Enlightened Spirituality | date=1991-06-09 | url=https://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/Women_of_Spirit_Chapter_Two_Buddhism.html | access-date=2026-04-06}} *Wakagamisama (若神様) – son, born Yoshito Kitamura (北村義人). His son (i.e., Sayo Kitamura's grandson) is Tsuneo Kitamura ([北村経夫](/source/%3Aja%3A%E5%8C%97%E6%9D%91%E7%B5%8C%E5%A4%AB), born 1955), currently a politician. Yoshito Kitamura died in 2007. *Okugamisama (奥神様) – son's wife *Akikazusama (明和様) – current female leader, born Akikazu Kitamura (北村明和, January 9, 1990 –), the daughter of Himegamisama (Kiyokazu Kitamura); third and current spiritual leader of Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō == References == {{Wikiquote|Sayo Kitamura}} {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitamura, Sayo}} Category:1967 deaths Category:1900 births Category:People from Yamaguchi Prefecture Category:Founders of new religious movements Category:Japanese religious leaders Category:20th-century female religious leaders Category:Deified Japanese women Category:20th-century religious leaders Category:20th-century Japanese people Category:20th-century Japanese women Category:Japanese women religious leaders --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kitamura Sayo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitamura_Sayo) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitamura_Sayo?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.