Mokichi okada biography definition

Mokichi Okada (岡田茂吉 Okada Mokichi, 1882–1955) was the founder of the Church of World Messianity, in which he is known by the honorific title Meishū-sama (明主様, lit.

"Lord of Light"). According to his official biography,^[1] Okada was born to a poor family in Tokyo and, after many trials and tribulations, eventually made his fortune in the jewelry business.

Initially a follower of Shinto offshoot Oomoto,^[2] Okada claimed to have received a special revelation from God in 1926, leading him to found a new religion in 1935 to spread the teachings.

Okada soon expanded to open a rehabilitation center centering around the healing powers of light, but it was shut down in 1936 as a violation of the Medical Practitioners' Law (医師法違反).^[3]

The Sangetsu (山月) school of ikebana, inspired by Mokichi Okada, was founded in June 1972.^[4] The Mokichi Okada Association (MOA) was established in 1980 to continue his work "toward the creation of a new civili