Honmichi (Tenrikyo offshoot, Onishi Aijirō)
Tenrikyo schism organised by Onishi Aijirō in 1925 (and twice suppressed for lèse-majesté in 1928 and 1938) on the basis of the living-Kanrodai revelation. ~300,000 adherents at peak; today substantially smaller.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — Tenrikyo schism (1913→1925) suppressed twice under Imperial Japan for lèse-majesté; living-Kanrodai doctrine.
Profile facts
In context
Onishi Aijirō broke from Tenrikyo in 1913 and formally organised Honmichi ('Original Way') in 1925. The movement criticised the Imperial system, was prosecuted twice under the Peace Preservation Law (1928 and 1938) for lèse-majesté, and recovered after the 1945 disestablishment. Doctrine combines Tenrikyo cosmology with the living-Kanrodai pillar claim. Honbushin (separate entry) later split from Honmichi over succession.
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.
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.
This profile is in progress — history, deeper BITE evidence and survivor voices are still being added. Contributions welcome via GitHub.
Timeline
- 1913Onishi begins living-Kanrodai teaching
- 1925Honmichi formally organised
- 1928First state suppression
- 1938Second state suppression
- 1945Reorganises after the war
Sources
- Trevor Astley, 'A New Religious Movement in Japan: Honmichi' (1995) search ↗
- Helen Hardacre academic work search ↗
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.
- 2026-05-29Phase 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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