Nakamura Tempu　（中村天風）

Was born in Tokyo in1874. His appellation Tempu was adopted when he founded Tempu Kai (Society) in 1919.
He served in the military in the Russo-Japanese War and gained a reputation as an extraordinarily brave man. However, he began to suffer after the service from tuberculosis, a diagnosis given by renowned Dr. Kitazato, who declared his recovery was impossible. He went to New York in 1908, where he pursued the study of medicine at Columbia University. His quest was not to cure his disease, but to find ‘how to make the mind stronger.’ He was disappointed at the academic study and went to Europe, where he visited varied world-famous philosophers, thinkers and scholars. He also met Sarah Bernhardt, a super famous actress living in Paris. He studied psychology there, and read Emanuel Kant which she recommended him to read.  
 Tempu Sensei decided to return to Japan ready to die in1910, and on the journey he crossed paths with Kaliappa, a great yoga teacher, in Egypt. Kaliappa took the sick man to his remote yoga village, Gorke, in Nepal. There he studied Indian yoga under his tutelage, ultimately reached satori, or spiritual enlightenment after one year and three months of rigorous practice. It was 1911, and he was 37.
After he returned home, he founded Tempu Kai (Society) in 1919 to teach people his Japanese yoga methods and his unique philosophy. He named the whole system of his teachings, “Unification of Mind and Body.” Over the course of five decades, he tirelessly taught a huge number of students, passing away peacefully at the age of 95, in 1968.

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