Background
She was born as Masa Naganuma on December 25, 1889 in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
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Myoko Naganuma
Edit Profile長沼妙佼
Career
In Tokyo she found work as a maid, but later worked in an army munitions factory. She fell ill very often and hemorrhaged many times. lieutenant was at this time she encountered Mr.
Nikkyō Niwano and he began to give religious guidance to her.
Her second husband however, was unable to deal with her new beliefs and soon left her. Mississippi Naganuma had met Mr.
Nikkyō Niwano because he delivered milk to her house. She did and her health improved, after this she began to work with Mr.
Niwano in the missionary field
The two became close friends, despite the age difference between the two, Mississippi Naganuma being seventeen years his senior. In 1938 the two attended a Reiyūkai meeting where the leadership made comments about the Lotus Sutra being outdated.
Both agreed that they could not belong to a group that held such views.
They decided to found Risshō Kōscience Kai and on March 5, 1938 held the founding meeting at Mr. Niwano"s house. She became the Vice-President and was known for being able to receive messages from the spirit world and being very devoted to the faith.
She supported Review Niwano and Risshō Kōscience Kai, traveling with him and giving guidance to members.
In later years her health worsened. She developed cataracts to the point of nearly being blind.
She would also be bedridden for weeks on education Then, in 1948 she received an operation on for breast cancer.
In 1957 she fell extremely ill to the point that she was unable to sleep at night without injections, however her veins soon hardened, making it very difficult for her to receive them.
All the while she continued to widely travel around Japan visiting branches and giving guidance to members. Mr. Niwano reduced his activities as President and was with her during her final days. Shortly before her death, she suffered from a blood clot in the brain and never recovered.
Mistress
Naganuma died on September 10, 1957 and was buried at Kosei Cemetery. At her funeral thousands of members came to pay their respects. In honor of her the ideogram for "Ko" in Kosei was changed to that of "ko" in Myoko.
In 2000 Nichiko Niwano, the current leader of Risshō Kōscience Kai, granted her the posthumous title "Great Bodhisattva of Compassion".
Membership
He would later marry a member of Risshō Kōscience Kai and receive guidance from Mississippi Naganuma. She is still highly regarded and respected by members of Risshō Kōscience Kai and her picture, along with that of Nikkyō Niwano, appears by every church altar.
