Honbushin (Tenrikyo offshoot, Onishi Tama)
Tenrikyo schism founded in 1961 by Onishi Tama, daughter of Honmichi founder Onishi Aijiro and considered by followers to be the reincarnation of Tenrikyo foundress Nakayama Miki. Headquartered in Okayama, where an outdoor stone kanrodai sits atop Mount Kami.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — Tenrikyo schism founded by Onishi Tama (Honmichi founder's daughter); volunteer sacred-construction culture; no documented pattern of financial extraction or abuse in sources reviewed.
Profile facts
In context
Honbushin was founded not by Ōnishi Aijirō — who founded the separate 1913 Tenrikyo schism Honmichi, covered in this catalogue's own sibling entry — but by his daughter, Ōnishi Tama (1916–1969), whom Honbushin followers consider the reincarnation of Tenrikyo foundress Nakayama Miki. On 26 April 1961 Tama founded the Tenri Miroku-kai ("Tenri Miroku Association") among Honmichi followers who accepted her own claim to religious authority; the new group formally separated from Honmichi in 1962 and was incorporated as an independent religious organisation in 1966. Headquartered first near Honmichi's own base in Takaishi, Osaka, then briefly in Shiojiri, Nagano, the movement relocated its centre to Mount Kami (Kamiyama), southeast of Okayama city, in 1969, where it erected an outdoor stone kanrodai — the sacred pillar central to both Tenrikyo's and Honmichi's cosmology — inside a dedicated sanctuary. Tama died there on 1 September 1969; religious authority passed to her son, Takeda Sōshin, proclaimed the new Kanrodai-sama and considered by followers the reincarnation of an early Tenrikyo leader, Honseki Izō Iburi. Takeda published Honbushin's five-volume doctrinal summa, Jitaimu, in 1993.
Honbushin's core teaching, "Because Kami exists, I exist," holds human existence as wholly dependent on God (Kami-sama, also called Tsuki-Hi, or "Moon-Sun"); the mantra Namu Kanrodai is chanted in the pillar's honour, and followers use a distinct "Michi no Nengō" calendar counting years from Nakayama Miki's 1838 birth. As in Honmichi, unpaid volunteer construction labour (fushin) on sacred buildings is a core devotional practice; Honbushin's outdoor kanrodai sanctuary, worship hall (Saiseiden) and headquarters complex near Okayama were built this way, alongside a smaller International Center in Mililani, Hawaii, used mainly for public cultural events rather than proselytising. No systematic pattern of financial extraction, sexual abuse, or coercive control comparable to other entries in this catalogue's Japanese-new-religion category has been documented for Honbushin in the sources reviewed for this record; its high-control profile rests on founder-authority claims and mandatory construction-labour culture rather than on any adjudicated harm.
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
- Reclamation Collective — Religious-trauma-aware therapist network; relevant for post-exit identity-rebuilding.
- Religious Trauma Institute — Religious-trauma clinical research and clinician directory (Marlene Winell tradition).
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Evidence by BITE axis
- Substantial volunteer construction labour expected of adherents
- Living-Kanrodai founder-claim pattern
- substantial sacred-construction culture
Lifton's 8 criteria of thought reform
Robert Jay Lifton's 1961 framework, complementary to BITE. Criteria this group exhibits according to the cited sources.
- Mystical ManipulationEngineering experiences that appear spontaneous but are designed to demonstrate the group's higher purpose.
Timeline
- 1961Onishi Tama founds the Tenri Miroku-kai (later renamed Honbushin) on 26 April 1961, after Honmichi followers accept her own claim to religious authority — corrected from a prior entry describing Honmichi's own 1913 founding
- 1969Honbushin relocates to Mount Kami, Okayama, and erects its outdoor stone kanrodai sanctuary there — corrected from a fabricated 'Tondabayashi temple complex' entry not found in any source reviewed
Evidence matrix
Structured sources cross-linked to the claims they document. Tiered per the source hierarchy. For free-text citations see the Sources section below.
| Title | Type | Reliability | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schism, orthodoxy and heresy in the history of Tenrikyō : three case studies · archive | Academic | Secondary | — |
Sources
- Helen Hardacre, 'Kurozumikyō and the New Religions of Japan' (1986) search ↗
- Trevor Astley academic work on Honmichi/Honbushin search ↗
- Wikipedia, 'Honbushin' (retrieved 2026-09-02), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honbushin ↗ Wikipedia
- Schism, orthodoxy and heresy in the history of Tenrikyō : three case studies — https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/items/e66d96e2-112f-478f-a17b-e31174258fb7 open ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-09-02Body expanded from stub (thin-content programme); corrected a major founder/date conflation inherited from the prior stub — name, summary, founded and timeline fields wrongly attributed Honbushin to Honmichi founder Onishi Aijiro (1913) and carried a fabricated 'kilometre-scale Tondabayashi shrine / world's-tallest-pagoda' claim that does not appear in any source reviewed. Corrected per REQUIRED fix B: Honbushin was founded in 1961 by Onishi Tama (Aijiro's daughter), headquartered at Mount Kami, Okayama.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: NRM high-control.
- 2026-05-20Source-density flags derived from existing free-text sources[]: academic sources. Heuristic auto-flag; subsequent editorial pass will populate structuredSources[] with reliability tiers.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Key terms in this profile
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
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Frequently asked questions
Q.Is Honbushin a cult?
CLCI Hub deliberately avoids the binary label "cult." Instead it places groups on a transparent 0–40 spectrum of documented control using Steven Hassan's BITE model (Behaviour, Information, Thought, Emotional). Honbushin scores 24 out of 40 — "High Control", at medium confidence. The score describes documented control patterns, not a judgement of members' sincerity or beliefs; many members do not personally experience the patterns listed.
Q.What is Honbushin's CLCI score?
Honbushin scores 24 out of 40 on the Cult-Like Control Index, which falls in the "High" band. That total is the sum of four BITE axes — Behaviour 6, Information 6, Thought 6, Emotional 6 — plus a signed modifier of +0 for aggravating or mitigating factors.
Q.Why does Honbushin score 24 on the CLCI?
The score reflects publicly documented patterns including: Living-Kanrodai founder-claim pattern; Substantial volunteer construction labour expected of adherents. These map onto the BITE axes of behaviour, information, thought, and emotional control, and a signed modifier of +0 is applied for factors such as financial demands, leadership accountability, and exit costs. Every claim is backed by the citations in the Sources section on this page.
Q.How reliable is the Honbushin rating?
This profile is rated Medium confidence. Medium confidence means the score rests on reputable journalism plus consistent ex-member testimony. CLCI scores are not fixed — they are revised whenever new public evidence appears, and groups that reform can score lower over time.
Q.Where can I get help regarding Honbushin?
If you or someone you care about is affected by Honbushin, start with the Recovery resources listed on this page. General cult-aware support is available from the International Cultic Studies Association (icsahome.com) and the Freedom of Mind Resource Center (freedomofmind.com). CLCI Hub is an educational resource, not a crisis service — if anyone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services.
Found something wrong on this profile?
We accept correction requests from anyone — current and former members, researchers, journalists, family members, and the listed organisation. Submissions are reviewed by an editor; we do not auto-publish.