Under the slogan “Let us come together with a sense of gratitude and carry out hinokishin in unity of mind,” the annual Tenrikyo Hinokishin Day, which is the culmination of daily hinokishin activities carried out by Yoboku and followers of the path, was held on April 29 at a large number of locations throughout Japan as well as at scores of locations in overseas countries mostly on weekends before or after that day.
Participants worked up a good sweat as they spiritedly engaged in hinokishin, which refers to any selfless and thankful action performed to make repayment for God’s complete providence.
In the Home of the Parent, roughly 3,300 people—including staff members of Church Headquarters as well as students of Tenrikyo schools and Shuyoka, the Spiritual Development Course—engaged in hinokishin at 52 locations throughout Tenri City.
The participants first assembled in Church Headquartersʼ Inner Courtyard. Following a moment of prayer and a speech by Director-in-Chief of Religious Affairs Yoichiro Miyamori, they headed for their respective hinokishin sites.
At sites in the vicinity of Kita-oji Avenue, a total of 87 students from TLI (Tenrikyo Language Institute) engaged in hinokishin tasks where they pulled weeds and removed sediment from ditches. Among them was Ms. Adriana Érica Ekami from Brazil, a student of TLI’s Oyasato Fusekomi Department, who said: “Thanks to my family members and church head minister’s encouragement and support, I was able to come back to the Home of the Parent all the way from Brazil. I’m so happy today to be able to engage in hinokishin activities with a sense of gratitude together with my fellow coursemates.”
