Әлемдік Мессиялық Шіркеуінің негізін қалаушысы Мокити Окада

Founder of the Church of World Messianity

Mokichi Okada (岡田茂吉 Okada Mokichi; 23 December 1882 – 10 February 1955) was the founder of the World Church of Messiah, that later became the Church of World Меssianity. He also acted as the spiritual leader of Shumei and the Johrei Fellowship. He is known by his followers by the honorific title Meshiya Sama or Meishū sama (明主様, lit. "Lord of Light"). He is the founder of Johrei, an energy healing ritual that uses "divine light" to dissolve the spiritual impurities that are understood to be the source of all physical, emotional, and personal problems.

According to his official biography, Okada was born to a poor Buddhist family in Asakusa, Tokyo and, after many trials and tribulations, eventually made his fortune in the jewellery business. His success was short lived however. After losing his wife, children and then business following an economic downturn and the Great Kanto Earthquake, he started to question the pursuit of material success. He remarried and went on to have further children but spurred on to find the answers he sought, he turned to religion to explore and express the spiritual aspect of life.

He was initially a follower of the Shinto offshoot Oomoto, a new religion that taught that the much anticipated Age of Light was approaching, where he became popular as a spiritual healer. In 1926 at the age of 45, Okada told his followers that he had received enlightenment and with it, a special revelation from God about the dawn of the Age of Light and his mission as a saviour of the people who were suffering.

In 1944 he moved to Gora, Hakone, and the following year he there started construction of Shinsenkyô, the sacred grounds, as a prototype of paradise on Earth. In 1945 he also started the construction of a second sacred grounds, “Zuiunkyô,” in Atami. He also initiated the construction of the third and final of his sacred grounds, Heiankyô in Kyoto. This Western influence proved unpopular with his original followers and after his death was dropped from the teachings shared amongst the community which later was renamed as the Church of World Messianity, 世界救世教 Sekai Kyūsei Kyō, in 1957. (second spiritual leader) upon his death, as she inherited the seat of Kyoshu, spiritual leader of the church. With the death of Nidai Sama, the title of Kyoshu passed to the couple's daughter, Itsuki Okada, who came to be called Sandai Kyoshu Sama (Third Spiritual Leader) by the faithful until her abdication and replacement on the seat by her nephew, Yoichi Okada, now Yondai Kyoshu Sama (Fourth Spiritual Leader). Sandai Sama was responsible for establishing the Sanguetsu Academy, which works to improve the Japanese flower arranging technique of ikebana for the Messianic Church. Yoichi is Okada's grandson, and he has a son, Masaaki, who is also active in the church leadership. Okada’s second daughter, Miya Yoshioka (Miya sama) was born in 1925 as officially became a member of the Okada Official Spiritual Lineage in 1975. Also demonstrating exceptional ability in the ceramic arts and ikebana (art of flower arrangement), she held a love for the arts throughout her life until she passed away in 2017 at the age of 91. Okasa’s fourth son, Kunihiro Okada was born in 1932 and assumed his position in Okada’s Official Spiritual Lineage in 1975. Inheriting Okada’s ability in the arts, he demonstrated outstanding sensibility in fields such as metal craft and ceramics.

His work was very influential in the area of Nature Farming, Japanese flower arranging, and art collections in Japan, while his spiritual influence lives on through various religious organisations.

The Sangetsu (山月) school of ikebana, inspired by Mokichi Okada, was founded in June 1972. The Mokichi Okada Association (MOA) was established in 1980 to continue his work "toward the creation of a new civilization to be undertaken without confining Okada's principles and their implementation within a religious framework" (MOA acquired the status of a legal entity as a limited liability intermediary corporation in 2005, then transferred to one of general corporation in 2009, officially called MOA International Corporation). Much of Okada's extensive art collection is now housed in the MOA Museum of Art in Atami, Japan.