In the early days of SNI, Rev. Niro Hattori was said to be an expert in healing disease by talking about the teachings. He was a prominent sculptor in Japan. However, a magazine for artists stated that despite his excellence in sculpture, it was unfortunate that he was unable to leave lots of works because he spent so much time in religious activities as a topnotch disciple of Dr. Taniguchi.
Rev. Hattori was once detained on suspicion of healing many people’s diseases without authorization because the police thought it was illegal. The police secretly investigated and collected evidence to determine whether those who met Rev. Hattori were truly healed from their illnesses. However, Rev. Hattori responded to the policeman that he never healed diseases. “Those who listened to my talk spontaneously recovered from illness,” he said. This story spread throughout Japan and resulted in very good publicity for Seicho-No-Ie.
Around that time, a magazine called “Shufu-no-Tomo,” or a friend of housewives, which had a large circulation in Japan, featured Seicho-No-Ie and Dr. Taniguchi in their May 1935 issue. The title of the cover story was “To probe the truth of miraculous spiritual healing – what is Truth of Life that heals difficult diseases simply by telling a story.” Dr. Taniguchi was interviewed by a reporter from the magazine.
According to the Seicho-No-Ie fifty-year history book, from the day following the publication of the issue of that magazine, there were long lines in front of the SNI publication company seeking SNI books and magazines and SNI Headquarters received many calls from all over Japan. At the same time, Dr. Taniguchi and Seicho-No-Ie were criticized by educated people saying that it must be fake. To criticize anything that had a great impact on society is the way the world operates.
However, those good days didn’t last long. Japan was heading into World War II. Censorship was getting strict, and any articles that did not support the Japanese military actions could not be published. Paper was strictly controlled. As a result, SNI ceased to publish any books or articles.
Dr. Taniguchi was still giving lectures. However, as the situation of the war worsened, only lectures that stimulated the war were allowed, and he stopped giving lectures. He devoted himself to agricultural activities and worked all day producing cabbage, pumpkin and other vegetables in his yard. (To be continued)
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