Hito-no-michi

Hito-no-michi

Japanese religious sect founded by Miki Tokuharu (1871–1938). It was based on an earlier religious movement founded by Kanada Tokumitsu (1863–1919), who taught that the sufferings of his followers could be transferred to him by divine mediation so that he could endure their troubles vicariously. Though compelled by the government to ally itself with Shinto, Hito-no-michi continued its unorthodox teachings and gathered a following of more than 600,000 by 1934. It was ordered disbanded in 1937; Tokuharu and his son Miki Tokuchika were jailed, and Tokuharu died the next year. In 1945 Miki Tokuchika was released, and he revived the sect under the name PL Kyodan.