Kimi Kotani - Kimi Kotani

A religious leader in the Taisho and Showa periods. First president of Reiyukai. Born into a poor family of half-farmers and half-fishermen in Kanada, Shimoura Village, Miura County, Kanagawa Prefecture (now Miura City). She married a fisherman at the age of 17, but he died soon after. She moved to Tokyo and remarried at the age of 27 to Yasukichi Kotani. Influenced by her husband's younger brother, Kubo Kakutaro, she became a Lotus Sutra practitioner, and together with Kakutaro in 1930 (Showa 5), ​​she officially founded Reiyukai. Its teachings of worshiping all spirits and cutting off evil karma by offering prayers to ancestors captured the hearts of housewives who were suffering from anxiety due to the impoverished lifestyles of the chaotic period after World War II, and it became one of the largest new religious organizations in the postwar period. It gave birth to many sects, including Rissho Kosei-kai.

[Masao Fujii June 19, 2018]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

大正・昭和期の宗教家。霊友会初代会長。神奈川県三浦郡下浦村金田（現、三浦市）の半農半漁の貧家に生まれる。17歳で漁師と結婚したが、まもなく死別、上京して27歳のとき小谷安吉と再婚した。夫の実弟久保角太郎(くぼかくたろう)の影響で法華(ほっけ)行者となり、1930年（昭和5）に角太郎とともに「霊友会」を正式に発足させた。万霊を祀(まつ)り、先祖供養(くよう)によって悪因縁を断ち切るとする教えは、第二次世界大戦後の混乱期の窮乏生活で不安にあえぐ主婦層の心をつかみ、戦後最大の新宗教教団の一つとなった。立正佼成会(こうせいかい)など多くの分派を生んだ。

［藤井正雄　2018年6月19日］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例