George Ohsawa

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George Ohsawa, born Nyoichi Sakurazawa (桜沢如一, Sakurazawa Nyoichi^?, October 18, 1893 - April 23, 1966), was the founder of the Macrobiotic diet and philosophy.

[edit] Background

Ohsawa was born in a family whose father was descended directly from samurai. But this was the period of the Meiji Restoration and his family were very poor. He had to leave school after the compulsory high school as there was no money for higher education. This is when his spiritual path started.

Around 1913 he met up with Nishibata Manabu (a direct disciple of the late Dr. Sagen Ishizuka) and studied with him in Tokyo in the movement Shoku-yo Kai.

Later he travelled to Europe, particularly Paris, France where he started to spread his philosophy.

After several years he returned to Japan to start a foundation, and gather recruits for his now formalized philosophy. After drawing attention to himself during World War II for his pacifist ideals, he moved his institution to a remote area in the mountains of Yamanashi prefecture.

When living in Europe he went by the pen names of Musagendo Sakurazawa, Nyoiti Sakurazawa, and Yukikazu Sakurazawa. He also used the French first name Georges while living in France, and his name is sometimes also given in this spelling.

It is presumed that he got the western name for his movement from a book written by Dr. Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland as it is known that he spent time in Europe with a descendant of Dr. Hufeland's.

Two of his Japanese disciples are also credited with disseminating Macrobiotics to the west and the USA in particular. They are Herman Aihara and Michio Kushi. There were many others as well though.