Don't mistake us! When we introduce ourselves as "Shinri Kyo " on the phone or in any other situation, we often feel that the person we are talking to looks or sounds startled or stunned. People we meet for the first time seem worried. Even though we are certain they know about us, people often ask us where we come from. It seems that people confuse us with the "Aum Shinri Kyo" or, are reminded of them on hearing our name. We feel disappointed each time when such things happen but we take this as "a form of encouragement from God that God wishes us to make a proper explanation about ourselves." We reply, "Aum is based on Buddhism whereas we enshrine God as Japanese people have been believing in him from ancient times. We have nothing whatsoever to do with Aum."

It has been nearly 120 years since Shinri Kyo (hereinafter referred to as our teaching) was started in 1880. The house of the founder of our teaching has been guarding our shrine for tens of generations in this place (Tokuriki, Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka). On the grounds, there is Shinri Kindergarten which about 300 children attend. The children can play freely in leafy surroundings in a space of about 15,000 tsubo (equivalent to about 50,000 square meters) and both parents and children are very happy with the environment. Even so, parents of newcomers to our kindergarten seem to be uncertain at first and ask questions about our origin. When we give them the answer mentioned earlier, they are relieved to know that we are based on belief in God. That is how they learn at first that we are a Shinto shrine and not a Buddhist temple or a Christian church.

In classification of religion, there was "Shinto" which started in Japan with no name and Buddhism and Christianity, which came into Japan in the mid-6th century and the mid-16th century respectively. Shinto was divided into Shrine-based Shinto which does not conduct propagation and Kyoha (denomination) based Shinto at the beginning of the Meiji Period. Our teaching became one of 13 denominations of Kyoha-based Shinto. Before World War II, it is said that religious groups in Japan mainly consisted of 40 groups, that is, Shrine-based Shinto and 13 denominations of Kyoha-based Shinto as well as 27 denominations of Buddhism and other religions. Our teaching is the only group which has its headquarters in Kyushu. Whether it was good or bad, it seems to be the reason why we have been affected less by changes of different periods in history. Shrine-based Shinto has its center in Ise-Jingu Shrine. Hachiman-Jinja Shrines and Inari Jinja Shrines have different characteristics, depending on the type of God they enshrine. Denomination-based Shinto also varies depending on each group. Some have merged with mountain worship, folk worship or Buddhism. Some were created to worship a new God. Our teaching is classified among them as Pure Shinto, Revived Shinto or Old Shinto. This Old Shinto may have influenced and been influenced by new- comers to Japan such as Buddhism and Christianity, but it is basically unrelated to those religions. It endeavors to pass on original belief in God in as pure a form as possible. Therefore, our teaching is not a patchwork of features of different religions. The basic idea is that the original belief in which humans (not necessarily Japanese) have kept faith since ancient times should be natural and truthful. That is the root of the human heart.

Let's take a look at religions around the world. In millions of years of human history, what did mankind believe in before Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and other religions appeared in this world as late as 1,500 to 2,500 years ago? It is likely that they worshipped nature or their ancestors and pleaded for their protection. Europe has Greek myths and one can find traces of similar types of worship in the rest of world, such as in India before Buddhism was started. Beliefs based on worship of nature can still be found among the Native Americans of North America and in areas such as South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, as well as among the Ainu and Okinawan people in Japan. A large part of such natural worship around the world seems to have been replaced by man-made beliefs and forgotten away when human hands modified it and added "arrogance" and "corruption". Perhaps people gave up on beliefs which are liable to corruption. Such new teachings, too, followed a history of "corruption" and have become what they are now after repeated unifications and splinterings. In any case, it is true that in every region in the world, there were original beliefs and natural and genuine teachings which humans relied on since ancient times. Japanese Shinto managed to maintain its original teaching even though various other religions came into the region. It is in Shinto that people can find the original teaching for human beings. Thus, Shinto is the original belief which human beings must respect and nurture. Our belief is that God = nature is the very original parent which gave life to us humans. Therefore, we can rely on and believe in it without fear or worry and God can give us protection and his divine virtue. Sano Tsunehiko No Mikoto, the founder of our teaching, merged the teaching of Shinto, which had been passed on through generations in the family, and Japanese classical studies, which is another Shinto teaching brought to Japan and formed a refined religion. It is the Shinri Kyo's ardent desire to awaken the original teaching within people in the world and achieve a happy and peaceful life.

In Japan, the Emperor has always been an emotional support for the people since ancient times and has been worshipped as the center of this country for his charismatic force. The ancestor of our founder is Nigihayahi No Mikoto, the brother of Ninigi No Mikoto, a grandchild of Amaterasu Sume Ookami, who is the guardian god of the imperial household. Ninigi No Mikoto was given the role of governing politics using the three divine symbols of the Japanese Imperial throne whereas Nigihayahi No Mikoto was given the role of governing divine ceremonies using the ten divine treasures of the Japanese Imperial throne. This is how Nigihayahi No Mikoto descended from the God's country to the ground so that he would support and work for Ninigi No Mikoto. This Nigihayahi No Mikoto is the ancestor of the founder of Shinri Kyo, Sano Tsunehiko No Mikoto (AD 1834 ~1906). Counting from Nigihayahi No Mikoto as the first generation, the founder of Shinri Kyo, Sano Tsunehiko No Mikoto is the seventy-seventh of the family tree. Looking back at the family tree of the founder, at the time of Ikuisukune No Mikoto, the ninth generation from Nigihayahi No Mikoto, he acquired the surname, "Mononobe". Later, at the time of Egushisukune No Mikoto, the sixteenth generation from Nigihayahi No Mikoto, he was given the surname "Kannagibe" for his accomplishment of curing a serious disease of the Emperor Yuryaku and started using it. The Kannagibe family prospered for a long time and at the time of Sama Shigetari No Mikoto, the sixty-sixth generation from Nigihayahi No Mikoto, they changed their surname from Kannagibe to Sano. That is because the father of Sama Shigetari, the sixty-fifth generation, confronted the Edo Government (AD 1603 ~ 1867) which controlled Japan at the time to defend Shintoism and died for the cause at Osaka castle. Therefore, the family had to conceal the surname of Kannagibe in order to protect themselves. Time passed and at the end of Edo period, the surname Kannagibe was used again occasionally. However, as far as the family registration was concerned, it was decided at the time of Kannagibe Uzuhiko No Mikoto, seventy-ninth generation from Nigihayahi No Mikoto, to return from Sano to Kannagibe. Sano Tsunehiko No Mikoto, the founder of Shinrikyo in the 13th year of Meiji period (AD 1880), was born into the seventy-seventh generation of the family which inherited Shintoism from the ancient time. He consolidated the teaching handed down from older generation to younger generation in the family to put to use for the world and its people. The current Superintendent is serving to disseminate the teaching as the fourth Superintendent of Shinri Kyo.