| Gedatsu Church of America | |
| Location: | 4016 Happy Lane Sacramento, CA 95827 (Sacramento branch) 7850 Hill Drive S. San Gabriel, CA 91770 (Los Angeles branch) 6095 Summer Street Honolulu, HI 96821 (Honolulu branch) 2569 Clay Street San Francisco, CA 94115 (formerly) (San Francisco Branch) |
| Religious Affiliation: | Gedatsukai |
| Country: | United States |
| Leadership: | Senior Reverend Akira Sebe (Sacramento) Reverend Kazuo Yamada (Sacramento) Reverend Hisakazu Taki (Los Angeles) Reverend Naoya Okano (Los Angeles) Reverend Tatsunori Kamiya (Honolulu) |
| Website: | Gedatsu Church homepage |
| Founded By: | Seiken Okano Ine Kenyu Kiyota |
| Established: | 1945 |
Gedatsu Church of America is an American Buddhist church with branches in Japan, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Hawaii.[1] A nonsectarian spiritual movement, it is based on the Japanese Gedatsu-kai, a new religious movement that was founded in 1929 by Seiken Okano. The Church preaches about Gedatsu-kai, a religious study dedicated toward promoting total inner peace and spiritual enlightenment. Gedatsu is the Japanese term for moksha or enlightenment.[2]
Seiken Okano (a.k.a. Gedatsu Kongo), the founder of Gedatsu Church of America, was born in Japan in 1881. According to the Church, Kongo received a revelation from God at the age of 48. He established the Gedatsu Church in 1929,[3] devoting himself to leading people to spiritual awakening, enlightenment and peace until his demise in 1948.[4]
Ine Kenyu Kiyota was a student of Okano's, and was given the mission to spread Gedatsu-Kai to the United States. Kiyota brought Gedatsu-Kai to California during the late 1930s. Upon the beginning of World War II, Kiyota, along with the Japanese and Japanese-American populace in the United States, were forced into relocation camps. Kiyota refused to pledge loyalty to the United States in protest of the internment, and was sent to the Tule Lake Camp. Kiyota spent her time in Tule Lake practicing Gedatsu-Kai, and spreading the teachings of Seiken Okano. Upon being released from Tule Lake, Kiyota founded the first branch of the Gedatsu Church of America in San Francisco, California.[5]
In 1950, Bishop Takeo Kishida, the most prominent member of Gedatsu-Kai in Japan, moved to the San Francisco Branch. Later that year, Kishida purchased 20 acres of farmland in Sacramento, California, founding the Sacramento Branch, and dedicating the land as the goreichi, or spiritual grounds, for the United States. In 1952, the church purchased a church building in Los Angeles, California, and founded its third U.S. branch.[6] In 1961, the original San Francisco Branch of the church dissolved, and the American headquarters moved to Los Angeles, and in 1981, the fourth church branch was founded in Honolulu, Hawaii.[7]
The three current branches of the Gedatsu Church of America are the Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Honolulu Branches. Total membership of the church is disputed, with Kishida claiming followers of Gedatsu-Kai in North America amount to roughly 2000 in the early 1980s, while those who were considered actually active was much lower, in the low hundreds.[8]
In the 1980s, the San Francisco and Sacramento churches were mostly Japanese speaking, but the Los Angeles church differed, integrating English into its ceremonies and services.[9] In 2019, all three churches hold services in English, but only the Los Angeles branch still holds services for Japanese speakers.[10]
The goreichi in Sacramento is home to several Gedatsu shrines. The list of shrines at the goreichi, and their descriptions are as follows.
Inside the main church building, there is an altar that holds the three objects of worship in Gedatsu-kai, the Tenjinchigi, Gochi Nyorai, and Gedatsu Kongo.[11]
The church grounds also has a repurposed military surplus quonset hut, known as the Social Hall, which served as the church hall until the current church building was built.