Preliminary Misogi Rite

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The Preliminary Misogi Rite was an ancient ritual of the Shinto religion in Japan. See misogi for basic description.

The practice was revived in a very public way by Lieutenant-General Heisuke Yanagawa, leader in Taisei Yokusankai movement, and General Kuniaki Koiso, an ultranationalist defender of State Shintoism, and former Ministry of Greater East Asia (Japan).

They conduct took a party of five loyal supporters to the Hakone mountains, for some ancient purification exercises in the coldest waters of the Sukumo River. They woke at 4:30 AM, to pray to the old gods, later entering the river waters for the rite, guided by a Shinto priest, while the followers sang old words. The believers had to raise their arms to compliment the rite, according to the official press report.

Official observers included Prince Kanin and his consort, representing the Imperial family. After a downpour on the ceremony, General Koiso himself declared to a journalist: "Misogi aspires to bring people to a state of nullity, similar to Nirvana, but I have not yet arrived there." Another follower said: "Such a rite has marvelous power to make one forget all troubles, and give intelligence of crystalline clarity like the river waters." Religious ceremonies extended over five days, for mental clarification and forming the sacred place into an operative center for the "Japanese Spirit Training House."

These religious efforts were supported later by Baron Kiichiro Hiranuma who organized the "Shintoist Rites Research Council" for the study of all primitive Shinto practices and the re-establishment of the ancient Japanese Gods. These combined with political efforts in the Diet, where Chikao Fujisawa tried to establish Shinto as state religion in the country.

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