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The kanrodai (甘露台 / かんろだい) ('stand for the heavenly dew', or lit. 'sweet dew platform') is a sacred entity in Tenrikyo and Tenrikyo-derived Japanese new religions, including (but not limited to) Honmichi, Honbushin, Kami Ichijokyo, Tenri Sanrinkō, and Daehan Cheolligyo. Tenrikyo, as well as a few of its schisms such as Daidōkyō (大道教), considers the kanrodai to be a physical pillar. However, later Tenrikyo-derived schisms such as Honmichi, Kami Ichijokyo, and Tenri Sanrinkō give a new interpretation in which the kanrodai is embodied as a living person.[1] Honbushin has installed a small stone kanrodai on Kamiyama, a mountain in Okayama, and also recognizes a human kanrodai who is the son of its founder Ōnishi Tama.[2]

The first kanrodai was built in 1873 by Iburi Izō at Nakayama Miki's residence.[3]

Origin

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The concept of the kanrodai was first taught by Nakayama Miki, the foundress of Tenrikyo, in 1868. In 1873, she instructed her disciple Iburi Izō, who was a carpenter by trade, to make a wooden kanrodai. Before the location of the Jiba was identified in 1875, the wooden kanrodai was kept in the storehouse where Nakayama Miki resided. According to Nakayama Miki, the real kanrodai is to be made of stone. As a result, the current wooden kanrodai at the Jiba is sometimes known as a "model kanrodai" (甘露台の雛形, kanrodai no hinagata).[4]

Tenrikyo

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The Inner Sanctuary of Tenrikyo Church Headquarters, which contains the kanrodai.
A diagram of the kanrodai in a 1928 edition of the Doroumi Kōki (泥海古記). The current wooden kanrodai at the Tenrikyo Church Headquarters does not have the receptable on the top for collecting heavenly dew.

In Tenrikyo, the kanrodai (甘露台) is a hexagonal pillar in the Divine Residence (Oyasato) of the Tenrikyo Church Headquarters in Tenri, Nara, Japan. It marks the Jiba. Adherents believe that when the hearts of human beings have been adequately purified through the Service, a sweet dew would fall from the heavens onto a vessel placed on top of the stand. Since 1875, there have been several different kanrodais installed at the Jiba.[1]

  • June 1875: After Nakayama Miki identified the sacred spot of the Jiba on 26 May 1875 (lunar calendar date), a two-metre high wooden kanrodai, which had been made two years ago in 1873 by Iburi Izō, was installed at the Jiba.
  • 1881: Construction of a stone kanrodai began. Stones were quarried from a nearby village called Takimoto (滝本), located on the Furu River (布留川) about two kilometers east of the Nakayama residence.[5][6] However, construction stopped after only two tiers were made, and the police confiscated it in 1882. A pile of pebbles marked the Jiba afterwards.
  • 1888: A wooden board kanrodai with two tiers was built and placed at the Jiba.
  • 1934: A complete 13-tier hinagata (雛形, or "model") kanrodai measuring approximately 2.5 metres high was built and placed at the Jiba. It has been regularly replaced on special occasions.
  • July 2000: Most recent replacement of the kanrodai, as of 2005

The kanrodai itself is not worshipped. Rather, the kanrodai serves as a channel through which God the Parent is worshipped.[7]

In Tenrikyo, due to the sacrosanct nature of the kanrodai, photographing the kanrodai is prohibited.

The following verse from the Mikagura-uta is the most commonly sung verse that mentions the kanrodai.

あしきをはらうてたすけせきこむ / いちれつすましてかんろだい Ashiki o harōte, tasuke sekikomu / Ichiretsu sumashite Kanrodai.
Sweeping away evils, hasten to save us. / All humankind equally purified, the Kanrodai.

Honmichi

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In Honmichi, the kanrodai is a living person. The religion's first kanrodai was its founder Ōnishi Aijirō. After his death, his grandson Ōnishi Yasuhiko became the kanrodai.[1][8][9][10][11]

Every year, Honmichi followers celebrate "the establishment of the human kanrodai" (甘露台人のおふみとめ, Kanrodai nin no o-fumitome) to commemorate their founder.[1]: 129 

Adherents of Tenri Sanrinkō, which split from Honmichi, also followed the tradition of Honmichi by revering their leader as the living kanrodai.

Honbushin

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Honbushin recognizes both physical and human kanrodais. After Honbushin's founder Ōnishi Tama died on September 1, 1969, religious authority was passed onto her son Takeda Sōshin (武田 宗真),[12] who was proclaimed as the new Kanrodai-sama (甘露台様) succeeding Ōnishi Aijirō.[13]

In Honbushin, the kanrodai is placed outdoors, rather than indoors in a building as in Tenrikyo. Other than the main stone kanrodai, multiple "model" (wooden) kanrodais can be placed in different locations, unlike in Tenrikyo where only one kanrodai can be placed only at the headquarter's jiba. Honbushin's main kanrodai is located in a shrine on the summit of Kamiyama (神山), located southeast of the city center of Okayama.[14] It is a small outdoor hexagonal stone pillar, with a much larger vertically standing stone disk installed behind it, and a torii gate in front of it. The location of the kanrodai is known as kanrodai-no-ba (甘露台の場).[15] This is symbolically represented in Honbushin's official logo, the Peace Mark (平和マーク). The logo consists of a kanrodai inside a circle representing the blessings of God, who is known as Kami-sama (神様).[16][17]

There is also a large outdoor wooden kanrodai at the Honbushin International Center in Mililani, Hawaii, United States. The actual main kanrodai (i.e., the kanrodai on the summit of Kamiyama) must be made of stone, whereas all of the other kanrodais are only considered to be models and are thus made of wood.[18]

Honbushin followers chant the mantra Namu Kanrodai (南無甘露台) to honor the kanrodai.[19]

Kami Ichijokyo

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In Kami Ichijokyo, the religion's founder Yonetani Tamasuisen (米谷玉水仙) is revered as the human kanrodai (人間甘露台, ningen kanrodai).[20][21]

Daidōkyō

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Daidōkyō (大道教), a Tenrikyo splinter group founded by Iida Iwajirō (飯田岩治郎) in 1897, has a stone kanrodai inside its main temple building called Shinbashira-den (真柱殿) in Ando, Nara. The stone kandorai is usually covered by a bamboo curtain.[22]

Daehan Cheolligyo

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Unlike in Japanese Tenrikyo, Daehan Cheolligyo's adherents in South Korea directly pray to the wooden kanrodai fixtures (while the one in the headquarters in Uijeongbu is much bigger) that are installed within the main halls of respective churches, instead of mirrors from Shinto traditions, during the localized services appropriate for the Korean social environment.[23][24][25]

Uchūshinkyō Kōmyōjin

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In 2024, a sacred pole called the mibashira (御柱), considered to be the "zero point" (ゼロポイント) and center of the earth and universe, was installed just outside the main worship hall (本殿, honden) of the Uchūshinkyō Kōmyōjin (宇宙神教光明神) or Kōmyō Kamu Tama Jingū (光明神玉神宮) religion in Yoshida District, Fukui, Japan. The mibashira itself is cylindrical, while the base is heptagonal.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Forbes, Roy Tetsuo (2005). Schism, orthodoxy and heresy in the history of Tenrikyō : three case studies (Thesis). University of Hawai'i Department of Religion.
  2. ^ "甘露台様御命日祭". ほんぶしん (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  3. ^ Tenrikyo Overseas Department (2010). A Glossary of Tenrikyo Terms. Tenri, Japan: Tenrikyo Overseas Department. (Translated selections from the Japanese book Tenrikyō jiten 天理教事典)
  4. ^ Tenrikyo Overseas Department (2010). A Glossary of Tenrikyo Terms. p. 191. Tenri, Japan: Tenrikyo Overseas Department. (Translated selections from the Japanese book Tenrikyō jiten 天理教事典)
  5. ^ Tenrikyo Doyusha Publishing Company (2014). Tracing the Model Path: A Close Look into The Life of Oyasama (Tenrikyo Overseas Department, Trans.). Tenri, Japan: Tenrikyo Doyusha Publishing Company. (Original work published 1993) (Japanese title: ひながた紀行　天理教教祖伝細見)
  6. ^ Tenrikyo Overseas Department (2000). Reference Materials for The Life of Oyasama (Tenrikyo Overseas Department, Trans.). Tenri, Japan. (Japanese title: 教祖伝用語・写真集)
  7. ^ Tenrikyo Young Men's Association (2006). Questions and Answers about Tenrikyo (Tenrikyo Overseas Department, Trans.). Tenri, Japan: Tenrikyo Overseas Department. (Original work published 1990) (Japanese title: 信仰問答集)
  8. ^ 梅原正紀 (1974). 民衆宗教の世界 (in Japanese). 講談社.
  9. ^ 梅原正紀 (1975). ほんみち:民衆宗教の原像 (in Japanese). 白川書院.
  10. ^ 梅原正紀 (1977). 天啓者の宗教ほんみち:甘露台世界にいたる道 (in Japanese). 耕土社.
  11. ^ ほんみち教義部編 (1972). ほんみち概観 (in Japanese). ほんみち教義部.
  12. ^ Yumiyama, Tatsuya. "Encyclopedia of Shinto詳細". 國學院大學デジタルミュージアム. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
  13. ^ "甘露台様御命日祭". ほんぶしん (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  14. ^ "所在地". ほんぶしん (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-01-19.
  15. ^ "慰霊祭". ほんぶしん (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  16. ^ "Teachings – Honbushin International Center". Honbushin International Center. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  17. ^ "ほんぶしんとは". ほんぶしん (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  18. ^ "ほんぶしんの風景　HIC(ほんぶしん国際センター)長野". ほんぶしん (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  19. ^ "お参り". ほんぶしん (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  20. ^ "神一条とは". 神一條教本部 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-02-13.
  21. ^ 米谷千恵子 (1984). 神一條：人間甘露台. 三学出版. ISBN 4-87906-117-4.
  22. ^ Toyoshima, Yasukuni 豊嶋泰國 (1999). 天理の霊能者: 天理教教祖・中山みきの実像に迫る 中山みきと神人群像 (in Japanese). Psy・ence Book. pp. 131, 142. ISBN 9784998069904.
  23. ^ Lee (이), Geon-jae (건재) (2015-04-28). "천리교, "신은 즐겁고 행복한 세상에서의 삶 원해'" [Tenrikyo 'God wants Life in a joyful and happy World']. Segye Ilbo (in Korean). 일본의 천리교가 일본의 전통 종교나 다름없는 신도의 상징물인 신경(神鏡)을 예배대상으로 삼은 것에 반발해 국내 천리교는 1985년부터 '신경' 대신 '감로대'로 신앙대상을 바꾸는 등 일본의 천리교의 전통과 사상을 달리해 왔다. [The main object of worship is considered to be a divine mirror (神鏡, shinkyou) in Japan's Tenrikyo, in which it is nevertheless not that distant from the Japanese traditional belief called Shinto that became a target for objection (by the Korean Tenrikyo adherents at that time). It is thus, Korea's domestic Tenrikyo religious scene switched the object of worship from a divine mirror to kanrodai in 1985, marking a divergence from Tenrikyo's traditions and beliefs.]
  24. ^ Neusner, Jacob (2009-10-07). World Religions in America, Fourth Edition: An Introduction. Louisville, Kentucky: Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. p. 215. ISBN 978-1611640472. This altar contains no images, for divinity in the Tenrikyo and Shinto tradiition generally does not take human form. Instead there are three simple cabinetlike shrines. When they stand open for worship, they reveal the gleaming mirrors that in Japan betoken the presence of kami (gods).
  25. ^ Gil-myeong (길명), Roh (노) (1987-12-20). "[한국의신흥종교] 20.일본의 신흥종교" [[South Korea's New Religions] 20. Japan's New Religions]. Catholic Times (in Korean). 천리교에서는 예배상징물로서 일본 천황의 선조인 천조대신(天照大神)을 상징하는「야다노가가미」를 상징하는 신각(神閣)과 신(神)을 상징하는 [탑]을 뜻하는 감대로(甘露臺)를 두고 있는데 최근에는 일본의 국조를 모시는 신각의 사용여부를 놓고 심각한 내부갈등을 일으키키도 하였다. [In Tenrikyo, the object of worship is the divine altar that symbolizes Yata no Kagami, the representation of the ancestor of the Japanese emperors, Amaterasu and the kanrodai that symbolizes God the Parent, but recently there were internal disputes on whether the divine altar would be continued as an object of worship.]
  26. ^ "聖地、神玉神宮、神玉、かむたま、かみたま、神宮　祈り". 光明神玉神宮 (in Japanese). 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
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