by Masuo Nezu

"When I stepped inside, I found Founder Niwano, my mother, my wife and daughters, all sitting side-by-side in the entrance hall, welcoming me with clapping hands and saying, 'Congratulations.' I had not even expected that the founder was with them to greet me. All through my dissemination tours, no idea that my family might be missing me, or that they might be concerned about me, had entered my mind. But seeing this welcome, I felt just how much they had been concerned for me in their hearts, and I was touched."

This story was recounted by President Niwano in response to an interviewer's question some days later.

The wooden buildings of Japan's 2,000-year-old Grand Shrine of Ise in Mie Prefecture are reconstructed every twenty years. In October 1993, Founder Niwano attended for the second time the ceremony for the transference of the symbol of the deity Amaterasu Omikami housed there to its new home. President Niwano also attended. Of course, it was the first time that he was invited, since he had succeeded to the presidency only two years earlier in the ceremony marking the Inheritance of the Lamp of the Dharma.

On October 2, 1993, Founder Niwano (center), with President Niwano (left), crosses the Uji Bridge in the sanctuary of Grand Shrine of Ise to attend its rededication ceremony held once every twenty years.

After the symbol of the deity had been solemnly carried from the former main sanctuary to the newly constructed one, all the participating religionists moved there as well. On the previous occasion two decades earlier, Founder Niwano had walked vigorously, with a quicker step than most of the others. This time, however, he was nearly ninety years of age, so he walked up and down the steps less easily and was just a little unsteady. Suddenly someone quietly approached from behind to offer a helping hand. Founder Niwano looked up at the face and saw it was his son, Nichiko. (They were of just the same height, but the founder was bent as he walked the stairs.)

Later, in saying, "I was guided by my son's hand," Rev. Niwano expressed his joy to those around him, so that what had been a private experience between the two men was made known to others as well.

When President Niwano spoke at the morning gathering of staff members of Rissho Kosei-kai headquarters at the Horin-kaku Guest Hall in June 1996, his remarks included the following comments:

"This year Founder Niwano is going to be ninety years old. He is still quite healthy, and he still assumes the role of leader in our daily sutra chanting at home, morning and evening. Blessed as he is with longevity, we are always grateful to see him as a daily model for our lives. My eldest daughter, Kosho, recently had her first child, a daughter, so that now at home we are again able to hear a baby's cry. My youngest daughter is now twenty-three years old, which means that it has been more than two decades since we have heard a baby cry in our house. A ninety-year-old and a newborn--four generations are now living under one roof. We are blessed this circumstance and the great variety of experiences we enjoy through their presence."

This series of articles was originally published in Japanese in 2000 under the title Kaiso Zuimonki: Egao no Ushirosugata.