a Tribute to the Fourth Spiritual Leader,
Kiyoko Deguchi

a Tribute to the Fourth Spiritual Leader, Kiyoko Deguchi

My initial shock on hearing the news of the loss of Mme. Kiyoko Deguchi, the Fourth Spiritual Leader of Oomoto, has given way to an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and respect.

I first had the privilege of becoming acquainted with Kiyoko-sama as her pupil of the yakumo-goto, Oomoto's liturgical musical instrument. At the time, she was Director of the Oomoto Kameyama Botanical Garden, and I would go to her for weekly lessons in a little room overlooking the Garden. Although I was not a member of Oomoto and spoke hardly any Japanese, she cheerfully agreed to initiate me into her sacred musical tradition, patiently explaining the various playing techniques and the meaning of the words of the songs. Even after assuming responsibility for the spiritual welfare of thousands of followers as Fourth Spiritual Leader, she generously found time in her busy schedule to answer my questions about the yakumo-goto, its music and its religious dimension.

After my wife and I moved to England, each time we visited Japan she would invite us to see her, even insisting that we stay for lunch. Never did she give the least impression that she was tired or preoccupied, although we now realise just how precious her time was to her. I remember only the warmth of her welcome and the sound of her laughter as we sat discussing all sorts of things, while time seemed to stand still. Happily, at our last meeting but one in 1997 I was able at last to repay the smallest fraction of my debt of gratitude to Kiyoko-sama by presenting her with a copy of my doctoral thesis on the yakumo-goto.

These last few days I have been reading the collection of essays on plants in the Kameyama Botanical Garden "Kusaki ni yosete", which Kiyoko-sama published last year under the pen-name Kameyama Sono. Even at this sad time I find myself smiling at her witty observations on Japanese wild flowers and herbs and the roles they have played in the lives of people. Although she is characteristically modest about her accomplishments as a botanist, one is struck by the deep understanding of plants and the genuine love for living things she reveals on every page. Reading this book I understand that at the same time as devoting herself to her music and her teaching she was carefully observing the effects of the slightest irregularities in the weather on the delicate plants about which she writes. In her otherwise cheerful letters to me, Kiyoko-sama, who kept herself very up-to-date with world news, would never fail to mention the latest ecological disaster or manifestation of climate change. How it must have wounded her heart to witness these things!

When Kiyoko-sama was designated successor to the Spiritual Leadership of Oomoto in 1982, I remember her mother, the Third Spiritual Leader Mme. Naohi Deguchi, mentioning two things about her daughter in making the announcement. One was her care not to use water wastefully, and the other was her loving attitude to the study of plants. In our modern urban lives we have come to take water for granted, but in recent years pollution of the world's rivers, lakes and seas and conditions of drought and flooding brought about by human activity have forced the issue of water on our attention as one of the most serious problems now facing us. At the same time, the very integrity of the world's flora is under threat from the commercial application of genetic modification. In an age when "life science" and biotechnology were presented as holding the solutions to all our problems, the Fourth Spiritual Leader of Oomoto will be remembered for her tireless efforts in calling for a renewed recognition of the importance of "life ethics", of true respect for life in agriculture, in medicine and in society.

In what was to be her last New Year's address this January, Kiyoko-sama expressed her belief that in the coming century the "false" would be weeded out, leaving only the "genuine". While giving thanks for her life, may we join with her successor, Kurenai-sama, in working towards the realisation of her vision for the twenty-first century.

Kannagara tama chihaemase

Charles Rowe

London, 24 May (Ascension Day) 2001