On May 23 1917 the village was completely destroyed by fire and the following spring found Morihei, a member of the local council, involved in the reconstruction of Shirataki. In July the same year Morihei’s eldest son, Takemori was born.
Morihei left Hokkaido in November 1919 when his father became ill. When he returned home he met Onisaburo Deguchi, the leader of a new religion called Omoto-kyo, who was living nearby in Ayabe. Morihei’s father died on January 2 1920 aged 76. His fathers death caused Morihei much pain and after a period of mourning he decided to move to Ayabe in search of a more spiritual life. He was to live there for the next eight years. During this time Morihei converted part of his house to a Dojo and opened the Ueshiba Academy. Sadly during his first year at Ayabe Morihei lost both his sons through illness.
The Useshiba Academy, at first offered introductory courses, mainly to Omoto_kyo followers. Later as Moreihei’s reputation grew outsiders began to train at the Academy.
In 1921 the authorities suddenly clamped down on the sect and the leader was arrested. Morihei took over the administration of the land which he farmed as well as continued teaching at the Academy. Morihei began to realize, in his everyday life, the belief that there is unity between martial arts and agriculture. From this period on Morihei’s practice of martial arts began to take on a more spiritual character. This led him to break away from the conventions of the current martial arts and develop his own original approach to break down barriers between mind spirit and body.
In 1924 Morihei left Ayabe in secret to go to Manchuria and Mongolia in search of a holy land where they could found a new world government based on religious precepts. Unfortunately the journey was ill fated and along with others Morihei was aressted by the Chinese army and sentenced to death. It was only the intervention of a Japanese consular official that saved them and allowed safe passage back to Japan.
In 1925 Morihei underwent a spiritural transformation. While washing at a well he experienced a complete serenity of body and spirit. He felt that he was bathing in golden light that poured down from heaven. After this he realised that it would be better to change the name meaning from, the art of Aikido, to the, way of Aikido.
Morihei attracted the attention of a number of distinguished followers. At the invitation of Admiral Takeshita he went to Tokyo and taught at the Crown Princes Palace. Morihei established dojos in both Tokyo and Osaka. In Osaka he taught at many of the local police stations.
Later as his fame spread throught out Japan he was invited to Manchuria to give demonstrations, including one for the Emperor Pu’ Yi
