son of Kandori Juhei (Father) and Kandori Shimo (Mother). When Bunji was 13, he received education from Ono Mitsuemon, the village headman for two years. As Genshichi was the second son and thus not expected to take over the family lineage or farm, he was arranged to be adopted in the fall of 1825. At age twelve, Genshichi was adopted into the Kawate household by Kawate Kumejiro (Father) and Kawate Iwa (Mother), and he was renamed Kawate Bunjiro, or Bunji. He worked assiduously for the prosperity and welfare of his family, and he gained the respect of those around him. In 1855, at the age of forty-two, Bunjirō went to the important shrine of Okayama Prefecture Kibitsu Jinja to do a divination and prayer ceremony as it was his yakudoshi (unlucky age year). He believed he had received a good omen, yet that year suffered from a serious throat ailment, rendering him in a chronic condition and unable to speak or move. He could not receive help from doctors, so he turned to ancient Shinto ritual with the help of his brother in law, Furukawa Jiro, to find the reason of his illness. The deity of Ishizuchi revealed through an oracle that Bunjirō was supposed to die from his illness for offending the deity Konjin. Realizing his mistakes, Bunjirō wanted to apologize to the deity. By this sincere desire to do so, he was able to gain his voice back, and was able to apologize to the deity with his own voice. From that time, he then gradually recovered from his illness completely, the experience impacting his faith and beliefs. As he continued his faith practice from that day, more spiritual experiences occurred, and his faith grew in the Kami and Bodhisattvas. In particular, he prayed most often to Konjin due to the spiritual experience during his yakudoshi year and apologizing for his irreverence to this deity. Over time, his faith led him to pray to multiple kami at once as a composite deity. He understood this composite deity as Nittenshi (The Buddhist understanding of the Sun) Gattenshi (The Buddhist understanding of the Moon), and Kane no Kami (Nigimitama of Ushitora no Konjin). Ultimately, however, this deity revealed themselves through an oracle that they were not a composite deity, but the deity that was the spirit/soul that was the Universal workings and energy (not unlike the Hindu concept of Brahman),