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The founder of Shinreikyo, Kanichi Ostuka, was born in 1885 on the island of Shikoku.
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At the young age of 16, Kanichi Otsuka began his spiritual search. He searched for the "hidden secrets of nature" and ventured across Japan.
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At the age of 21, Kanichi Otsuka journeyed throughout Korea, China, and Mongolia on another spiritual search.
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Shinreikyo is a Japanese new religion that was originally created in 1938 by Kanichi Otsuka and his wife Kunie Miyashitain. Shinreikyo was meant to be the religion of the "center", and its beliefs supposedly unite those of Christian and Buddhist nature. It is also very likely that Shinreikyo is somewhat rooted in Taoism.
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The religion was believed to have been actually founded in 1947, which is when it began attributing followers.
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Shinreikyo was officially recognized within the Japanese education system in 1948.
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The religion began building churches around Japan, including in Tokyo, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kanazawa, though the group is headquartered in Nishinomiya.
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The last church built was in Honshu in 1977.