著者

吉永 進一

出版者

人体科学会

雑誌

人体科学 (ISSN:09182489)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.17, no.1, pp.35-51, 2008-06-30

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Taireido, literally meaning "the way of Great Spirit," was an alternative kind of psychotherapy which flourished from 1916 to 1929. Its founder, Tanaka Morihei, was once a poor working student with a nationalistic inclination. He tried to make a direct appeal to the emperor in 1903 to persuade him to take a military action to Russia. This event made him famous nationwide, but at the same time he was obliged to live in seclusion for a while. In 1905 Tanaka had a strange experience of automatic movement after he completed 90 days fast, and got a supernormal power of healing. After this experience his life was divided between political activities and psychotherapy movement, and Taireido he started was a combination of a school of hypnotism, a new religious movement, and a political body. In this paper I chronicled the biography of Tanaka Morihei, analyzed hypnotic, religious and political elements in Taireido, and discussed the relationship between his metaphysical and political thoughts. In conclusion, his theory on a kind of inner spirituality corresponds to his political program, and his worship of Tairei (Great Spirit) is related to his view of the modern nation of Japan.