Ryuho Okawa
Founder of Happy Science and claimed incarnation of El Cantare.
Ryuho Okawa was a Japanese religious and political leader who founded the Happy Science organization and the Happiness Realization Party. He claimed to be the current incarnation of a god called El Cantare, as well as other beings such as Hermes and Gautama Buddha, and is worshipped by adherents of the religion.
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Takashi Nakagawa (中川 隆)
- Born
- 7 July 1956
- Birthplace
- Kawashima, Tokushima, Japan
- Died
- 2 March 2023
- Place of death
- Tokyo, Japan
- Citizenship
- Japanese
- Office
- President of the Happiness Realization Party
- Took office
- 27 December 2012
Facts from the source article.
Early life
Ryuho Okawa was born as Takashi Nakagawa on 7 July 1956 in Kawashima (now Yoshinogawa), Tokushima Prefecture, the second son of Tadayoshi Nakagawa (later known by his pen name Saburō Yoshikawa) and Kimiko Nakagawa. His older brother Tsutomu Nakagawa (later known as Makoto Tomiyama) was born in 1952. Okawa stated that his family was religious; both parents believed in God and the Buddha, and he himself believed in spirits, souls, and an afterlife from childhood, though he was not active in religious practice. He and his brother were raised in a strict home environment that was ordinary and neither particularly rich nor poor. Yoshikawa is considered one of the most important influences on Okawa's life; although Okawa had no spiritual or religious master, Yoshikawa's influence was significant. Yoshikawa edited journals for the Japanese Communist Party, later worked as an agricultural advisor in local government, and had a deep interest in spirituality and religion. He studied in the Christian Church as a teenager and in the new religion Seicho-no-Ie after World War II, later becoming a follower of Shinji Takahashi of the God Light Association (GLA) and eventually serving as Happy Science's official adviser in its early years. Yoshikawa was demanding of Okawa's success, giving him and Tomiyama hour-long lectures after dinner that covered religious topics such as the Bible and The Gateless Barrier, as well as secular subjects like Kantian philosophy and Marxism during elementary school, though Okawa was not successful in school at that time. Okawa aspired to be a scholar or diplomat, wanting to spread his ideas in academia or broaden his view through different cultures, so he began studying late into the night and became among the top of his class, particularly excelling in English. He was obese, weighing 60 kg when he was 143 cm tall. During secondary school, he was active, fishing, playing tennis, practicing kendo, serving as president of the student union, and editing the school newspaper.
Career
In 1975, Okawa did not pass the entrance test for Tokyo University. He studied for another year and then gained admission to the university's Liberal Arts Division. During his first year, he struggled socially. He mentioned sending love letters to a woman who turned him down, and he felt out of place among classmates who had no interest in spiritual matters. In his second year, which he described as the first phase of his awakening of wisdom, he structured his day to match the routine of Immanuel Kant, a philosopher he greatly admired. At three in the afternoon, he would go for a walk and compose poetry. At five, he visited a public bath for an hour to think over his day. After returning home, he ate a low-cost meal and purchased two books from a nearby shop. From half past eight to nine in the evening, he read, had tea, and then studied philosophy, including the works of Plato and Kitaro Nishida. In April 1978, after completing his second year, he chose politics as his major and studied in the Faculty of Law. Following his third year, he took a year off from his studies. When that break ended, he did not pass the judicial exam or the test for higher-level civil servants. In his final year, his focus moved from philosophy to metaphysics, and he read writings by Shinji Takahashi of GLA and Masaharu Taniguchi of Seicho-no-Ie. Because his academic record was not strong enough for graduate school, he took a job offer from TOMEN Corporation, now Toyota Tsusho, a large Japanese trading firm. After finishing his degree in spring 1981, he started working in the foreign exchange department at the company's main office in Tokyo.
Personal life
Ryuho Okawa married Kyoko Kimura, who was born on 22 August 1965, on 10 April 1988. She adopted the name Kyoko Okawa. From 1988 onward, she served as a spiritual leader alongside him. Kyoko graduated from the University of Tokyo, where she studied English literature. Okawa described the marriage as giving his life a stable foundation that allowed him to focus more on his work and as key to the growth of Happy Science. In 1988, she became the organization’s Presidential Assistant and also headed its women’s group, the Society of Aphrodite. Like her husband, she wrote books for Happy Science aimed at a female readership. She contributed an essay to each issue of the monthly journal Happy Science Monthly, which began in April 1987, covering topics such as education and family life; these essays were later collected into books. She served as joint president of the Happiness Realization Party with Okawa and eventually became its sole leader. Okawa claimed that he and Kyoko had shared past lives together. The Society of Aphrodite and its subgroup, the Society of Florence, are named after the Greek goddess and Florence Nightingale, respectively, because Kyoko is believed to have been those figures in previous incarnations. In February 2011, reports emerged that the couple was preparing to divorce. Happy Science announced that Kyoko had been permanently expelled, accusing her of causing major personal and administrative harm to the organization, defaming it in newspapers, and dishonoring the name of Lord El Cantare. Okawa and Kyoko had five children: Hiroshi (an actor, born 24 February 1989), Sayaka (born 16 February 1991), Masaki (born 12 May 1993), Yuta (born 21 September 1995), and Arisa (born 26 September 1997).
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Ryuho Okawa born?
Ryuho Okawa was born on 7 July 1956 in Kawashima, Tokushima, Japan.
When did Ryuho Okawa die?
Ryuho Okawa died on 2 March 2023 in Tokyo, Japan.
Where did Ryuho Okawa study?
Ryuho Okawa studied at Tokyo University and City University of New York.
More in New Religious Movement Deities
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced