Quote:
Diana Frese wrote:
For those who don't know him [Hikitsuchi SenseI], he was a Shinto priest who had studied with O Sensei since childhood when O Sensei visited the Wakayama area in south Japan .
|
Hi Diana --
I've had occasion to ask a number of individuals who trained with Hikitsuchi S. in Japan about the question of whether or not he was a Shinto priest. Each of them told me essentially the same thing: while he was a devoted Shinto practitioner, he was not a formally ordained priest.
That said, the whole "formal ordination as a Shinto priest" business in its present form is closer to one century old than two, and Shingu is in Wakayama, a part of the country where traditions of folk-practice seem to run comparatively strong in many respects, so you can make of that what you will.
Best,
FL