Rev. Haruo Shibuya, Seicho-No-Ie Elder, Passes Away
Rev. Haruo Shibuya, a Seicho-No-Ie Elder, passed away on June 19. He left a mark in the Humanity Enlightenment Movement and artistic activities in and out of Japan with his deep religiosity and fresh sensibility. He was 89 years old.
Rev. Shibuya was born in Miyagi Prefecture in 1924. In 1943 he attended Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi’s public lecture and was cured of his tuberculosis and became a Seicho-No-Ie believer. In 1962 he was employed by the Seicho-No-Ie Headquarters and in 1965 he became an Ordained Minister. In the same year he became an Resident Ordained Minister in Hawaii, U.S.A. on the merit of his language ability and worked hard to spread the teachings there until 1968. Subsequently, he held important positions such as the Chief of Okinawa Missionary Area, a Director of the Headquarters, Chief of Cultural Division, Chief of International Department, Chief of Publishing and Public Affairs Department, and Chief of Lecturers’ Department (department names as used at the time). From 1991 to 2001 he was the Bishop of Seicho-No-Ie Latin America. In 1999 he became a Seicho-No-Ie Elder and in 2001 a National Ordained Minister. For about half a century until he retired in 2010, he dedicated himself as an employee of the Headquarters to the Humanity Enlightenment Movement.
He was also active as a poet. He belonged to the Japan Poets Association and Japan Poets Club. He published three anthologies, including a collection of poems, Hikari no Shiki (Light’s Four Seasons (published by Seicho-No-Ie). Also for his collection of reviews on poets, Kenji Miyazawa and Ragindranath Tagore entitled Hikari to Kaze o Kiku ([Listening to Light and Wind] published by Nippon Kyobunsha Co., Ltd.), Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi himself wrote a foreword and recommended it, saying that “it is a book that can provide the guidepost for rebirth.”
Rev. Shibuya was a judge for the Tanka (poem) Column in the Shirohato monthly magazine for five years. In the June 2012 issue, he wrote his last commentary, entitled, “Parting Words:” “I would like to live beautifully, write beautiful poems and leave this world beautifully.”
He last appeared in public when he was interviewed on the theme of beauty for the July issue of the Inochi no Wa (Ring of Life) monthly magazine.