Unlike the Co-Founder and subsequent spiritual leaders of Oomoto, the
Foundress let no autobiographical writings, and the story of her life
comes to us entirely through the recollections of people close to her.
The present biography is based on Sakae Ôishi's Kaiso-den
(Life of the Foundress) published in 1949, which has remained the
definitive work on the Foundress. We have also taken advantage of more
recent research to supplement Mr. Ôishi's biography, and have included
a new section on Kamishima. In so doing, we have endeavoured to follow
Mr. Ôishi's policy of "taking care to ensure the accuracy of historical
events and to present them as such in a straightforward manner" (from
the preface to the original Kaiso-den).
There is still much that could be added, and if certain episodes are not
mentioned it is not necessarily because they are not of deep significance
in the 'divine plan'. However, we hope that we have been able to present,
in Mr. Ôishi's words, "a simple account of the main deeds of the Foundress",
and to throw some light on the early history of Oomoto. We hope at the same
time that the reader may share the interest we have felt in researching the
remarkable story of the life of Nao Deguchi.
Charles Rowe and Yasuko Matsudaira
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