Ōnishi Aijirō

The Ōnishi family in May 1926 (Taishō 15) shortly after the 1925 establishment of the , from right to left: eldest daughter Aiko アイ子 (claimed to be the reincarnation of Nakayama Kokan), third daughter Kiyoko 清子, wife To'o トヲ, second daughter Tama 玉 (reincarnation of Nakayama Miki), Ōnishi Aijirō 甘露台大西愛治郎 (the Human Kanrodai), second son Masanori 正憲 (reincarnation of Iburi Izō), and eldest son Yoshinobu 愛信 (reincarnation of Nakayama Shūji).

Ōnishi Aijirō (大西 愛治郎, August 26, 1881 – November 29, 1958) was a Japanese religious leader known as the founder of Honmichi, a Tenrikyo-based Shinshūkyō (Japanese new religion). Honmichi followers also refer to him as the ) had several children, including:

On March 8, 1946, Aiko was appointed as the until her death in 1966, while Masanori was appointed as the . During the 1960s and 1970s, Yasuhiko's elder brothers Motooki (元興) and Masataka (正隆) served as the temporary leaders of Honmichi while Yasuhiko was still a young boy. Yasuhiko had 15 siblings.

Kunisazuchi-no-Mikoto = Nakayama Kokan (中山こかん) – reincarnated as Ōnishi Aiko (大西アイ子) (大西愛子.) Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto = Nakayama Shuji (中山秀司) – reincarnated as Ōnishi Yoshinobu (大西愛信) Kumoyomi-no-Mikoto = Nakayama Tamae (中山たまへ), the granddaughter of Nakayama Miki and wife of Nakayama Shinnosuke Kashikone-no-Mikoto = Iburi Masajin (飯降政甚), the eldest son of Iburi Izō – reincarnated as Ōnishi Masataka (大西正隆) Taishokuten-no-Mikoto = Nakayama Matsue (中山まつゑ) Ōtonobe-no-Mikoto = Nakayama Shinjirō (中山新治朗) – reincarnated as Ōnishi Motooki (大西元興) Izanagi-no-Mikoto = Maegawa Kikutarō (前川菊太朗) Izanami-no-Mikoto = Nakayama Miki – reincarnated as Ōnishi Tama (大西玉)

Death and legacy On November 29, 1958 at 3:45 p.m., Ōnishi Aijirō died. His funeral was held on December 2, 1958 at Honmichi's Hagoromo (Takaishi) headquarters.

Aijirō's grandson, , was born in 1960 as Ōnishi Masanori's seventh child and was viewed as Aijirō's reincarnation, and hence as the new kanrodai. Nevertheless, Honmichi followers continue to view Ōnishi Aijirō as the one and only . Aijirō's third daughter Ōnishi Kiyoko (大西清子) also joined Honbushin and followed Ōnishi Tama to Okayama.