{"id":9370,"date":"2023-07-19T11:48:36","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T02:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.tenrikyo.org\/?p=9370"},"modified":"2023-07-19T11:50:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T02:50:14","slug":"insights-into-the-anecdotes-hidenobu-nakano-1852-1923-anecdote-174-if-you-let-go-your-strength","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/online.tenrikyo.org\/?p=9370","title":{"rendered":"Insights into the Anecdotes: Hidenobu Nakano (1852\u20131923), Anecdote 174 \u201cIf You Let Go Your Strength\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Anecdote (Summary)<\/b>
\nHidenobu Nakano used to serve as a mounted warrior for the Koizumi feudal clan in Yamato Province. He was proficient in jujitsu and kendo fencing. One day he returned to Jiba and was granted an audience with Oyasama.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Oyasama said: \u201cNakano, you are known as a strong man in the country. Now try to free your hands.\u201d She took hold of both his wrists. Nakano at first exerted only a little strength and tried to free his hands, but She would not let go. So he became serious about it, and with a shout, tried with all his might to pull both hands free. Yet the elderly Oyasama remained steady with perfect composure.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Nakano, who was still in the prime of life, tried, with his face flushing, again and again with all his might to pull his hands free, shouting each time, \u201cYa! Ya!\u201d But Oyasama retained an awe-inspiring calm and continued to smile pleasantly. He could do nothing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Not only that, the most astonishing thing was that the more he exerted his strength, the more strongly his own wrists were gripped. Finally, they started to feel as if they were being ripped apart. Powerful as he was, Nakano could not bear the pain any longer. \u201cI am overwhelmed. Please release my hands,\u201d Nakano conceded to Oyasama.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Then, She said: \u201cYou need not apologize at all. If you let go of your strength, God will also let go of God\u2019s strength. If you exert strength, God will also exert strength. This applies not only now but always,\u201d and She quietly released his hands.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Bushido1<\/sup><\/a> Bore the Brunt of Persecution and Interference<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Yoshiyuki Nakano, Honbu-in<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hidenobu was born as the first son of Hideoki and his wife, Hisae, on August 4, 1852, in Koizumi Village, Soeshimo County, Yamato Province (a section of what is now known as the town of Koizumi, Yamato-Koriyama City), some seven kilometers west of the Residence. It so happens that Oharu, the third daughter of Oyasama, married into the Kajimoto family in Ichinomoto Village in the same year. Later this marriage<\/span> was instrumental in drawing Hidenobu to the path.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Through Opening a Dojo<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Nakano family had belonged to the feudal warrior class, and its members had excelled in Japanese archery and equestrian skills. One of their ancestors was a retainer of Katsumoto Katagiri, a feudatory of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, and worked at Ibaraki Castle in Settsu Province (part of what is now Osaka Prefecture). After Katsumoto passed away, the Nakano family moved to Koizumi Village and worked for one of Katsumoto\u2019s nephews\u2014the head of the Koizumi feudal clan in Yamato Province. It is said that the Nakanos served as Japanese archery and equestrian instructors for several generations thereafter.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Since Hidenobu was born into such a family, he was proficient in jujitsu, kendo, and equestrian skills. After completing his education, he worked for the prefectural police in Nara and Osaka, serving as a jujitsu and kendo instructor. In 1881, when he was around thirty years old, he opened a dojo (training hall) in Osaka and subsequently established three branches. Three years later he started to visit various regions to provide people with kendo instruction.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the autumn of 1885 he returned home to Koizumi Village after completing a kendo instruction trip, which lasted over a year. Soon he was requested by the headman (kocho<\/i>) of Ichinomoto Village to open a dojo there. Also, the chief of Ichinomoto Branch Police Station, who was a friend of Hidenobu\u2019s, asked him to give lessons to the station\u2019s<\/span> police officers. The opening of the dojo would lead him to encounter the path.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One day in December of the same year, Matsujiro\u2014the second son of Oharu Kajimoto in Ichinomoto Village and an elder brother of Shinnosuke Nakayama, the first Shinbashira\u2014visited the dojo. On that occasion, he asked Hidenobu to give lessons in jujitsu and kendo to Shinnosuke, who was twenty years old. Shinnosuke thus started to go to the dojo. Some time later, he said to Hidenobu: \u201cIt is good to practice here. Yet there are a lot of young men at the Residence, so I would like you to give lessons there.\u201d Thus, Hidenobu started to come to the Residence. After he visited the Residence several times, Shinnosuke said to him, \u201cI would like you to meet Oyasama.\u201d It was February 10, 1886, by the lunar calendar.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Convinced of \u201cGod\u2019s Strength\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, as we read in the anecdote appearing at the beginning of the chapter, Hidenobu was granted an audience with Oyasama for the first time and engaged in a contest of strength with Her. Just one month before this anecdote, police officers from Ichinomoto Branch Police Station rushed into the Residence and took away those present including Oyasama. This was Oyasama\u2019s<\/span> \u201cfinal hardship.\u201d That winter was the coldest in thirty years, and Oyasama was detained at the advanced age of eighty-nine. Anecdote 185, entitled \u201cYou Do Not Know Where I Work,\u201d tells us, \u201cOyasama would stay in bed for most of the day ever since She returned from Ichinomoto Branch Police Station.\u201d I wonder if it was Shinnosuke\u2019s concern<\/span> about Oyasama\u2019s safety<\/span> that motivated him to ask Hidenobu, who had considerable influence with Ichinomoto Branch Police Station, to give lessons at the Residence.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hidenobu, who did not yet know much about the teachings, seemed to be astonished at what happened during his audience with Oyasama. He was thirty-five years old at that time, approximately 160 centimeters in height, 73 kilograms in weight, and 36 centimeters in arm circumference. His hair reached his shoulders and his beard was long enough to be braided easily. It was said that his outward appearance was so powerful that people found him almost intimidating. Yet, to his astonishment, he could not pull his hands free from Oyasama\u2019s grips<\/span> even with all his might. He wrote in his memoir: \u201cUntil now I have served in the police and given officers lessons in kendo, so I felt that I was on the side opposed to Tenrikyo. Yet after I was unable to push or pull at all, . . . my assumption that Oyasama\u2019s behavior resulted from spirit possession was replaced by the conviction that it comes undoubtedly from God\u2019s strength.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thereafter, Hidenobu frequented Oyasama\u2019s Residence<\/span> and often chased away violent intruders who broke into the Residence. He also frequently accompanied Her disciples on their mission trips to various regions as a guard, making use of his skills in martial arts and his connections in the police. One day, the chief of Ichinomoto Branch Police Station asked him: \u201cLately you have been frequenting Tenrikyo. Do you have any inside stories?\u201d Hidenobu advised the chief: \u201cTenrikyo is the path of true sincerity. Chief, I do not think it is a good idea to keep interfering with Tenrikyo.\u201d Then, the chief replied: \u201cIs that so? Then, we will stop interfering.\u201d Hidenobu sometimes brought police officers who were his martial arts students to the Residence for his instruction there.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In 1900 when Tenri Seminary was opened, he started to give lessons in kendo and jujitsu to students. This was the beginning of \u201cTenri Judo.\u201d Hidenobu always adored Oyasama after his first audience with Her. In his later years, he served as a guard for the tomb of Oyasama on Toyoda Hill before his life came to an end.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What Was Shown in the Contest of Strength<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Regarding the anecdote we are considering, there is more to the story. According to Hidenobu\u2019s memoir, after the contest of strength Oyasama asked him about swords: \u201cWhich is stronger, a Masamune sword or a new sword?\u201d He replied: \u201cNew swords are produced in large quantities, so they often break or bend. Masamune\u2019s swords are<\/span> strong because swordsmiths put their heart and soul into forging them.\u201d Then, Oyasama said: \u201cIs that so? Yet it is not entirely accurate. Masamune\u2019s<\/span> swords are strong because they were not only made involving various people but were forged again and again.\u201d As Hidenobu was having difficulty understanding the true meaning of Her remark, Oyasama said, \u201cThink seriously about it,\u201d and let him go.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Some days later Hidenobu asked Oyasama about the meaning of Her remark. She said: \u201cYou may think that no one in the world is stronger than you are. Yet despite your strength you cannot even govern Japan. This path is one that encompasses all people throughout the world. This is not a tiny path. The meaning of the instruction I gave you was that you should fully listen to the teachings of the path from various people, firmly settle in your mind what you have learned, and become a person who follows the path.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In those days, the path was spreading in all directions, and many people came to gather at the Residence. Most of them were ordinary people such as farmers, craftsmen, and merchants. The Meiji government had already abolished the feudal domain system and introduced the prefectural system so that the samurai, the feudal warrior class, no longer existed. However, there still remained a warrior class consciousness, the samurai being thought of as a symbol of power. Hidenobu\u2019s father was a warrior of the Koizumi feudal clan in Yamato Province, and Hidenobu himself led his life as a master of kendo, the way of the sword. I imagine that he might have had some sense of belonging to the privileged class. I think that Oyasama saw this state of his mind and taught him carefully. I also think that, by defeating him in the contest of strength, Oyasama desired to show that there is no class distinction in front of God and that all people in the world are beloved children of God. Because Oyasama\u2019s words moved him, he lived his life with a humble mind and was willing to bear the brunt of society\u2019s<\/span> opposition and harassment directed at the path. This was the Bushido that Hidenobu practiced in the latter half of his life.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What then can those of us living in this day and age learn from Hidenobu\u2019s<\/span> anecdote? When Oyasama conducted a contest of strength with Hidenobu, She said: \u201cIf you let go of your strength, God will also let go of God\u2019s strength. If you exert strength, God will also exert strength. This applies not only now but always.\u201d This can be understood as saying that the more earnestly we follow the path leaning on God, the more vividly God will show us blessings. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I do not believe that the phrase \u201cGod will also exert strength\u201d refers to any special manifestation of God\u2019s <\/span>strength. I am a fifth-generation follower, counting from Hidenobu. My generation is the first where the first son is carrying on the family name\u2014a fact that some might consider \u201cordinary\u201d but that I feel is a tremendous blessing that has only been possible because Oyasama grasped Hidenobu\u2019s wrists<\/span> on the day of origin of our family\u2019s faith and because the successive generations of the family have followed the path believing Her words \u201cThis applies not only now but always.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I worked at Tenri Seminary for many years. During the period I saw a number of cases where the words \u201cGod will also exert strength\u201d came true. Most of the cases involved God\u2019s blessings and workings related to restoring people to \u201chealth\u201d or \u201csafety.\u201d We often forget to appreciate \u201chealth\u201d and \u201csafety\u201d in our daily lives as we take them for granted as \u201cordinary,\u201d and we tend to realize how precious they are particularly in out-of-the-ordinary situations. We would do well to live our lives keeping in mind that what we see as \u201cordinary\u201d in our daily lives is only possible because Oyasama continues to work for us every single day without rest in keeping with the words \u201cGod will also exert strength.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a> From Itsuwa no kokoro tazunete\u2014gendai ni ikiru Oyasama no oshie<\/i>, published by Tenrikyo Doyusha Publishing Company<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

1<\/a>. Literally, \u201cthe way of the warrior.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Anecdote (Summary) Hidenobu Nakano used to serve as a mounted warrior for the Koizumi feudal clan in Yamato Province. He was proficient in jujitsu and kendo fencing. One day he returned to Jiba and was granted an audience with Oyasama. Oyasama said: \u201cNakano, you are known as a strong\u2026<\/p>\n

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