Service (Tenrikyo)
In the Tenrikyo religion, the Service (おつとめ, Otsutome), also known as the Tsutome, is the most important prayer ritual, along with the Sazuke.
This service is the masked dance that is exclusively performed around the Kanrodai where Tenrikyo Church Headquarters – located in Tenri City, Japan – is situated.
[3] The performers of the Kagura Service are chosen from the inner circle of the administrative staff at Tenrikyo Church Headquarters.
[7] Hashimoto notes that the divine providences of the Kagura Service are oriented to reflect the metaphysical principle of oneness in two (futatsu hitotsu), which is the idea that the universe exists by integrating two opposing elements.
"[12] The Teodori (てをどり or 手踊り) refers to the part of the Service that is sung, danced, and played to the text of the Eight Verses of the Yorozuyo (よろづよ) and the Twelve Songs, or the fourth and fifth sections of the Mikagura-uta.
[15] A performance of the Teodori requires six dancers, three males on the left and three females on the right, who form a single line facing the shrine.
The six Teodori dancers perform exactly the same hand and foot movements in unison, expressing the meaning of the songs through the dance.
[17] From late 1888 through the following year, a number of churches were established in various districts, and some of them requested permission to perform the Service when their sanctuaries were completed.
In response, the Divine Directions made it clear that the Kagura Service could not be performed anywhere other than at the Jiba for the Kanrodai.
The kagura masks were not to be worn—or even merely placed in front of the performers—at local churches, though the use of all the other implements including the musical instruments was allowed.
[19] The performance of a Monthly Service requires a minimum of six dancers (three men and three women), six men's instruments (hyoshigi, chanpon, surigane, taiko, kotsuzumi, and fue), three women's instruments (koto, shamisen, kokyū), and one or two singers (jikata).
[20] The Memorial Service (霊祭, mitamasai), dedicated to ancestors and predecessors of the Tenrikyo faith, is performed at Church Headquarters twice every year, once in the spring and once in the autumn.
The times of the morning and evening services at Church Headquarters are based on sunrise and sunset, as are those at other places of worship.
Many followers perform their Morning and Evening Services at their homes, often using only their wooden clappers or no musical instrument at all.
The most common form of a prayer service is when a community makes an appeal or petition to God to save a person from a particular illness.
The prayer service is performed together with two instruments on the upper dais – the wooden clappers and the counter – with the other members of the congregation praying from the worship hall.
[25] Nine musical instruments are employed in the performance of the Monthly Service – hyōshigi (wooden clappers), chanpon (cymbals), surigane (small gong), taiko (large drum), kotsuzumi (shoulder drum), fue (bamboo flute), shamisen, kokyū, and koto.
During the Morning and Evening Services the maximum number of instruments is reduced to four – hyoshigi, chanpon, surigane, and taiko – and a kazutori (counting implement) is added in order to keep track of the repetitions of Mikagura-uta Section One, which is performed 21 times.
[26] In 1863, Tsuji Chusaku chanted the same words along with the hyoshigi, though not to do missionary work as Kokan had done, but to pray for his sister Kura.
[27] In 1864, several early Tenrikyo followers decided to pay their respects to Ōyamato Shrine by playing musical instruments, dancing, and chanting "Namu, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto!
[31] Ever since Nakayama Miki's passing in 1887, the fue, chanpon, hyōshigi, and koto have remained unchanged to the present day.
[42] The earliest account of the Service occurs in the year 1863, when follower Chusaku Tsuji prayed for the recovery of his sister's insanity.
Nakayama taught the third section of the Mikagura-uta, completing the entire set of songs for the Service as initially composed.
This section was initially worded, Also in the same year she taught the hand movements for eleven different services to address specific issues.
In the wake of this incident, Oyasama made alterations in the wording of the first and third sections of the Mikagura-uta, though she made no change to the hand movements: In addition to the Services already mentioned, Nakayama taught eleven different Services (jūichi-tōri no tsutome 十一通りのつとめ) to her followers for specific purposes.
[45][46] Each Service has a unique set of words and hand movements performed in place of Section One from the Songs for the Kagura.
