This year’s Tenrikyo Nioigake Day was observed from September 28 to 30, when Yoboku and followers throughout Japan engaged in sprinkling the fragrance of the teachings. Again this year, an appeal was made to distribute Tenrikyo leaflets to about 40 million households all over Japan. Nearly 11 million leaflets were distributed during the three days.
More than 1,400 staff members of Church Headquarters went to Osaka’s Senboku New Town located in the Sakai-minami district of Osaka Diocese, and did door-to-door missionary work during the three-day period. It was the third time that the staff members of Church Headquarters went to this town, which comprises about 58,000 households.
On the morning of September 30, the final day, Director-in-Chief of Administrative Affairs Masahiko Iburi addressed the staff members of Church Headquarters who assembled for Nioigake Day and encouraged them with the words: “Despite the inclement weather, let us sprinkle the fragrance of the teachings brightly in high spirits.” Then, 475 staff members headed for Senboku New Town, where they spread the teachings for about two hours. Some were able to administer the Sazuke. In addition to doing door-to-door missionary work, some of the staff members spread the name of God the Parent and did hinokishin by picking up litter.
All those who did door-to-door missionary work kept records so that the records might be utilized in sprinkling the fragrance of the teachings by the district thereafter. Due to the efforts made by the staff members of Church Headquarters over the past three years, some people in Senboku New Town came to have faith and a lot of Yoboku who were not listed in the Yoboku Directory were able to find out about, and participate in, last year’s “District Lectures for Yoboku: Action and Progress.” It was recognized that about one-fifth of the Yoboku in the district lived in Senboku New Town.
This year, a letter of invitation from the district was also distributed to each Yoboku. District chairman Yoshihiro Taniwa said: “Nearly all the Yoboku in Senboku New Town belong to churches in other prefectures. From now on, we will create a contact network among Yoboku and utilize it for promoting the district’s activities.”
In addition to Nioigake Day, districts in many dioceses throughout Japan designate the entire month of September as “Nioigake Month” to promote sprinkling the fragrance of the teachings. For instance, during September, the Maizuru district of Kyoto Diocese worked on “distributing Tenrikyo leaflets to all 30,000 households in the district” in order to activate its regional activities. This appeal was originally made four years ago and has been achieved every year. These achievements were due greatly to the monthly “Yoboku Newspaper,” which has been issued by the district for the past 20 years. It has feature articles on “sprinkling the fragrance of the teachings” before Nioigake Day and is handed out to about 900 followers in the district in order to call upon them to participate in Nioigake Day. On both September 29 and 30, about 40 people did door-to-door missionary work to about 3,000 households. On the 30th, an advertising car supported their missionary work.
The Hiroshima-higashi district also has been working to distribute Tenrikyo leaflets to every household in the district. The district created four groups, which have been sprinkling the fragrance of the teachings on their respective designated dates every month. So far, they have distributed leaflets to about 50,000 out of 240,000 households in the district. During the three-day Nioigake Day, a total of 203 people participated in it and distributed about 23,000 leaflets. Prior to these Nioigake Day activities, Hiroshima Diocese decided to sprinkle the fragrance of the teachings to about one million households within the diocese. Based on this, each district has enthusiastically been sprinkling the fragrance of the teachings since this April in anticipation of the Yoboku Convention, which will be held next June with the presence of the Shinbashira.