Daruma Painting by Onisaburo Deguchi

[Iaido dude]

Onisaburo Deguchi (王仁三郎 出口), born Kisaburō Ueda (1871-1948), was an extraordinary and highly controversial religious and artistic figure in late 19th and early 20th century Japan. Together with his mother-in-law Nao Deguchi, he was one of the two spiritual leaders of the new Oomoto religious movement. While Nao Deguchi was the Foundress (開祖, Kaiso) of Oomoto, Onisaburo Deguchi was the Holy Teacher (聖師, Seishi). He was one of the most significant religious leaders of modern time. He was a shaman, healer, miracle worker, artist supreme, standup comedian, martial artist, and soothsayer.

 

Onisaburo had studied Honda Chikaatsu's Spirit Studies (Honda Reigaku) and also learned to mediate spirit possession (chinkon kishin 鎮魂帰神) from Honda's disciple Nagasawa Katsutate (長澤雄楯) in Shimizu, Shizuoka. Starting from March 1, 1898, he followed a hermit named Matsuoka Fuyō (松岡芙蓉), who was a messenger of the kami Kono-hana-saku-ya-hime-no-mikoto (木花咲耶姫命), to a cave on Mount Takakuma near Kameoka, Kyoto, where Onisaburo performed intense ascetic training for one week. While enduring cold weather with only a cotton robe, as well as hunger and thirst, he received divine revelations and claimed to have traveled into the spirit world. He was too busy communing with various deities to spend a minute in Buddhist medication. He would likely tell you that he actually met Daruma in person during one of his celestial excursions. Notably, he was Ueshiba Morihei's sensei.

 

 

 

It is said that the Daruma painting of a Spiritual Master (in this case a Shinto Shaman, although he was still able to share the Zen vision) is his spiritual self-portrait. This work is signed Oni. Indeed, Onisaburo 's Daruma has his likeness. The brushwork is wonderfully executed with a light wash for the face and a powerful use of flying white to form the body in half seated position possibly with one knee up known as tatehiza. This is a starting position in some martial arts kata such as iaido and suggests an informal posture that one might assume while eating or drinking sake. This is in keeping with Onisaburo's personality. Throughout his life, he was often quite flamboyant, taking delight in wearing richly textured costumes of his own design and posing as a wide variety of deities, mostly Buddhist or Shinto. He would also dress like a shaman, and often even took up the appearances of female divinities in drag. His outlook on life tended to be eclectic, sometimes even to the point of being outrageous. At varying points of his lifetime, he claimed to be an incarnation of Miroku Butsu (i.e, Maitreya Buddha), and often referred to himself as a remodeler of the world.

 

Onisaburo was an unbelievably prolific artist, rivaling Yamaoka in the number of works he created. He is known for coining the proverb "Art is the mother of religion" (芸術は宗教の母, geijutsu wa shūkyō no haha). This artistic genius produced hundreds of thousands of outstanding artworks: paintings, calligraphies, talismans, poems, songs, dances, and even operas. He also dabbled in cinema, sculpture, and pottery. His "scintillating tea bowls" are considered to be among the most creative and beautiful of any ceramics made in the modern age. His creations are now considered by many enthusiasts to be of great value; his paintings are relatively unavailable for purchase, unlike Yamaoka's work. He practiced kyudo and several occult martial arts. After a long and tumultuous career, Onisaburo "ascended to heaven" on January 1, 1948, at the age of seventy-six.^1,2

 

¹The Art of Budo: The Calligraphy and Paintings of the Martial Arts Masters, John Stevens (2022), pg. 140 and 240.

²Zenga: Brushstrokes of Enlightenment, John Stevens (1990)