Nakamura Tempu

Nakamura Tempu (中村 天風) was a Japanese martial artist and founder of Japanese yoga. He was the first to bring yoga to Japan and founded his own art called Shin Shin Tōitsu-dō (心身統一道), the Way of Mind and Body Unification.

Early life and family background
Born in Tokyo, Japan, his original name was Saburo (三郎). He was the son of Nakamura Sukeoki (中村祐興 1829-1909) of Fukuoka-ken and Nakamura Teu (中村テウ 1858-1928) of Tokyo, known as Edo at the time. His father introduced the use of paper money in Japan when he served as the bureau director of the Japanese Ministry of Finance. Tempu Nakamura later moved to Fukuoka-shi (福岡市, Fukuoka City), Fukuoka-ken (福岡県) to live with a relative. Once there, he took private lessons from an Englishman and enrolled in the Shuyukan (修猷館, now Fukuoka Prefectural Shuyukan High School in Sawara-ku) school where English was the medium of instruction and where he became proficient in his family's style of judo (随変流) and also trained in kenjutsu and iaijutsu. During judo practice, he totally defeated an opponent from Kumamoto who then tried to kill Nakamura in revenge. In the violent encounter, Nakamura stabbed and killed his assailant, which was ruled legitimate self-defence. He left the school and joined Genyosha ultra-nationalist secret society, forming a friendship with Toyama Mitsuru.

In the Imperial Japanese military


At the age of 16, he joined the Imperial Japanese Army and served as a covert agent in Northern China, which was then the puppet state Manchukuo. He was one of only nine out of 113 military affairs investigators to return to Japan alive from the Russo-Japanese War, after which he suffered a severe attack of tuberculosis at the age of 30.

Seeking a cure for his illness
Seeking a cure for the illness, he studied the autonomic nerves at Columbia University, and traveled to England, Germany, Belgium and France. For a period of time he lived with the family of Sarah Bernhardt. In 1911, on his way back to Japan, he met a philosopher in Egypt named Kaliapa (a.k.a. Cariapa and Kariappa), who took him to Kangchenjunga, the third-highest mountain in the world, located between Nepal and India. He remained there for two and a half years of yoga study and practice, which incidentally cured his illness. He practised unique versions of Raja Yoga and Karma Yoga with Kaliapa, with an emphasis on Raja Yoga.

Return to Japan


After finally returning to Japan, he served as president of Tokyo Industrial Bank, among other business activities. He established his own medical and philosophical organization, renaming it Tempukai (天風会) in 1940. He taught Shin Shin Tōitsu-dō to Koichi Tohei, who later founded Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido.

In Japan, Tempu was a prolific writer on philosophy and entrepreneurship.

Published works
Published works by Tempu Nakamura include these Japanese titles:
 * ISBN 4-930838-55-X 成功の実現 (The Realisation of Success)
 * ISBN 4-930838-59-2 盛大な人生 (A Prosperous Life)
 * ISBN 4-930838-80-0 心に成功の炎を (Setting Fire to the Heart for Success)
 * ISBN 4-06-263739-1 運命を拓く (Altering Fate)
 * ISBN 4-06-208263-2 叡智のひびき-天風哲人箴言註釈 (Resounding Wisdom - the Annotated Maxims of Philosopher Tempu)
 * ISBN 4-06-207695-0 真理のひびき-天風哲人新箴言註釈 (Resounding Truth - the Annotated Maxims of Philosopher Tempu)
 * ISBN 4-930838-97-5 いつまでも若々しく生きる (Living Youthfully)
 * ISBN 4-89101-020-7 君に成功を贈る (Building Your Success)

People who studied under Tempu

 * Chiyo Uno author
 * Tōgō Heihachirō the 'Admiral Nelson of the East'
 * Hara Takashi the 19th Prime Minister of Japan
 * Konosuke Matsushita the founder of Matsushita Electric
 * Koichi Tohei founder of Ki-Aikido
 * Hiroshi Tada Aikikai Aikido
 * Yukio Ozaki politician
 * Kazuo Inamori founder of Kyocera Corporation
 * Tatsuro Hirooka baseball player