, also archaically romanized as Hongwanji, is the collective name of the largest school of

Jōdo Shinshū , also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan. History Shinran ( ...

Buddhism (which further sub-divides into the Nishi and Higashi branches). 'Hongan-ji' may also refer to any one of several actual temple buildings associated with the sect.

Early history

The Hongan-ji was established as a temple in 1321, on the site of the Ōtani Mausoleum, where

Shinran ''Popular Buddhism in Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture'' by Esben Andreasen, pp. 13, 14, 15, 17. University of Hawaii Press 1998, was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino (now a part of Fushimi, Kyoto) at the turbulent close of ...

, the founder of the

("True Pure Land") was buried. The mausoleum was attended by Shinran's grandson (through daughter Kakushinni), Kakue. Kakue's own son,

Kakunyo Kakunyo (覚如) (1270-1351) is the great-grandson of Shinran, founder of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism, and the third caretaker, or Monshu of the family mausoleum, which gradually became the Hongan-ji Temple in Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Jap ...

, became the first chief priest of the Hongan-ji and third

monshu The Monshu (門主), or ''keeper of the gate'' is a term sometimes used in Japanese Buddhism to denote the head of a monastery, as in the case of Jōdo-shū and Tendai Buddhism, but in the case of the Nishi Hongan-ji sub-sect of Jōdo Shinshū Bu ...

(spiritual leader), and dedicated it to the worship of

Amitābha Amitābha ( sa, अमिताभ, IPA: ), also known as Amitāyus, is the primary Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is known for his longevity, discernment, pure perception, purification of aggregates, and deep awarene ...

(''Amida''). The Hongan-ji first gained power and importance in the 15th century, when

Rennyo Rennyo (, 1415–1499) was the 8th Monshu (head priest) of the Hongan-ji Temple of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism, and descendant of founder Shinran. Jodo Shinshu Buddhists often referred to as the restorer of the sect ( in Japanese). He w ...

became its eighth monshu. However, the

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

sect based on

Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by S ...

saw this expansion as a threat and attacked the Hongan-ji three times with its army of

sōhei were Buddhist warrior monks of both classical and feudal Japan. At certain points in history, they held considerable power, obliging the imperial and military governments to collaborate. The prominence of the ''sōhei'' rose in parallel wi ...

fled to

Yoshizaki-gobō The was a Buddhist temple located in what is the Yoshizaki neighbourhood of the city of Awara, Fukui, Japan. It is known for its connection to Rennyo, the founder of the Ikkō sect of Japanese Buddhism. The ruins of the temple were designated ...

, where he established a new temple compound. During the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, fearing the power of the monks of the Hongan-ji,

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

tried to destroy it. For ten years, he laid siege to the

Ishiyama Hongan-ji The was the primary fortress of the Ikkō-ikki, leagues of warrior priests and commoners who opposed samurai rule during the Sengoku period. It was established in 1496, at the mouth of the Yodo River, on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea. At the t ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, one of the two primary temple fortresses of the sect. In 1580, the abbot of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji, Kennyo, surrendered, while his son Kyōnyo refused to surrender, for which he was publicly disowned. After the death of Nobunaga in 1582 and the ascent of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

, Kennyo was rewarded for his opposition to Nobunaga by being granted land in Kyoto, at the site of modern-day

Nishi Hongan-ji is a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist temple in the Shimogyō ward of Kyoto, Japan. It serves as the head temple of the sub-sect Honganji-ha. It is one of two Jōdo Shinshū temple complexes in Kyoto, the other being Higashi Hongan-ji, which is the ...

(西本願寺, "Western Hongan-ji"; sometimes called the ''Honpa Hongan-ji'' 本派本願寺). He was succeeded by his legitimate son, Junnyo, as abbot in 1592. While his brother Kyōnyo re-established the Osaka Hongan-ji in 1596 with local support, owing to his refusal to surrender to Nobunaga earlier. After the death of Hideyoshi in 1598, Kyōnyo openly supported

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

, who became ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'' in 1602. In reward for his loyalty, Kyōnyo was rewarded with land for a temple in Kyoto to the east of Nishi Honganji, which then became known in 1603 as

Higashi Honganji , or, ″the Eastern Monastery of the Original Vow″, is one of two dominant sub-sects of Shin Buddhism in Japan and abroad, the other being Nishi Honganji (or, 'The Western Temple of the Original Vow'). It is also the name of the head temple of ...

(東本願寺 "Eastern Hongan-ji"). In 1619 the government recognized the two entities as separate congregations. It is popularly believed, however mistakenly, that the institution was split in two in order to maintain control of the order.

Modern divisions of the Hongan-ji

Nishi Hongan-ji

Formally known as the Jodo-Shinshu Honganji-ha, it is the largest of all the Jodo Shinshu branches. Compared with the Higashi Hongan-ji, it has a history of institutional stability that accounts for high membership figures, and a larger geographical reach, but fewer well-known modern thinkers. The Nishi Hongan-ji has a sizable number of overseas temples in the United States, South America, Hawai'i, Canada, and Europe which are organized into several kyodan ("districts"). The largest of these is the

Buddhist Churches of America The Buddhist Churches of America (abbreviated as BCA in English, ' or ''Beikoku Bukkyōdan'' in Japanese) is the United States branch of the Nishi Honganji subsect of Jōdo Shinshū ("True Pure Land School") Buddhism. The BCA headquarters is at 17 ...

. The Hongwanji International Center, to the east of Nishi Hongan-ji, coordinates dialogue with Jōdo Shinshū organizations around the world and produces translation work. The Nishi Hongan-ji operates the Hongwanji Publishing CompanyHongwanji Publishing Company
/ref> which produces books, music, films, and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

about Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism. They also publish a bimonthly newspaper, the Hongwanji Journal and their website includes, among other things, a TV channel devoted to explaining Buddhism and Hongan-ji's everyday operations.

Higashi Hongan-ji

Higashi Hongan-ji is one of the two dominant subsects of Jōdo Shinshū, the other being the Nishi Honganji. During the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

in the 1860s, the government set down new guidelines for the management of religious organizations. An organization called

Ōtani-ha Ōtani-ha (真宗大谷派, ''Shinshū Ōtani-ha'') is a Japanese Buddhist movement. It belongs to Jōdo Shinshū, also known as Shin Buddhism. The movement has approximately 5.5 million members. The headquarters of Ōtani-ha are in Kyoto,http://w ...

was put in control of Higashi Hongan-ji. In 1987, this temple was renamed ''Shinshū Honbyō'' "Shinshū Mausoleum", although the earlier name is still used. The buildings have not been changed or moved, and of course the historical cultural and religious significance of the place has not changed. Due to opposition to the creation of the Ōtani-ha, and a number of other controversies and disputes such as the

Ohigashi schism The Ohigashi schism (お東騒動) was a religious schism in the Ōtani-ha (also known as Higashi Honganji) subsect of the Jōdo Shinshū school of Buddhism that occurred in 1969 after a reformist group created internal divisions. History The Dobo ...

, several new Higashi Hongan-ji branches came into existence such as the Higashiyama Hongan-ji, founded in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

in 1996 by Otani Korin, and the Tokyo Higashi Hongan-ji, whose current leader is Otani Koken. Despite, or perhaps even because of, this climate of instability, the Higashi Hongan-ji movement has also produced a significant number of controversial but influential thinkers, such as Soga Ryōjin,

Kiyozawa Manshi was a Japanese Shin Buddhist reformer and priest of samurai background who studied at Tokyo University in Western philosophy under the American philosopher Ernest Fenollosa.Popular Buddhism In Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture by Esben A ...

Kaneko Daiei was a Japanese Shin Buddhist philosopher and priest during the first half of the 20th century, belonging to the Ōtani-ha branch of Shin Buddhism. He was born to the priest of Saiken-ji, a Shin Buddhist temple in Jōetsu, Niigata Prefecture. ...

and

Akegarasu Haya was a Shin Buddhist priest in Ōtani-ha. For a decade he was a student of the Shin reformer Kiyozawa Manshi. Akegarasu was also a former head of administration of the Higashi Hongan-ji who was a major inspiration to the formation of the Doboka ...

, amongst others. The largest Higashi Hongan-ji grouping, the Ōtani-ha has approximately 5.5 million members, according to statistics., pp. 11, 38-39, 101

Joint activities

In recent years some members of the Honganji sects have been involved in high-profile protests against the visits of Japanese politicians to the controversial

Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Empire of Japan, Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, First Sino-Japane ...

. Along with the other non-Honganji Jōdo Shinshū subsects, the Honganji issued a statement opposing the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

Important Hongan-ji buildings

Higashi Hongan-ji

The Shinshū Honbyō, the mausoleum of

, is now owned by the Ōtani-ha but is still commonly called Higashi Hongan-ji (東本願寺) by Kyoto visitors and locals. The massive Goei-dō (also known as ''Mie-dō''), or Founder's Hall Gate, is often one of the first things one sees walking north from JR

Kyōto Station is a major railway station and transportation hub in Kyōto, Japan. It has Japan's second-largest station building (after Nagoya Station) and is one of the country's largest buildings, incorporating a shopping mall, hotel, movie theater, Isetan ...

. Nearly identical to the Nishi Hongan-ji head temple in layout, it too features an Amida-dō, and a larger Mie-dō. The Mie-dō at Higashi Hongan-ji dates from 1895 and vies with a number of other structures for the claim of largest wooden building in the world. A few blocks from the main grounds of the Higashi Hongan-ji is the Shosei-en garden, owned by the temple. Poet-scholar Ishikawa Jozan and landscape architect

Kobori Masakazu Kobori (written: 小堀) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese artist and aristocrat *, Japanese tennis player *, Japanese ice hockey player *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese voice actress *, ...

are said to have contributed to its design in the 17th century.

Nishi Hongan-ji

The Nishi Honganji, like the Higashi Honganji, features a huge Goeidō (御影堂),

Kaisando A , also termed the Founder's Hall, is a temple structure in a Japanese Buddhist monastery complex or other temple where an image (or images) of the founding abbot and other significant teachers and Buddha ancestors are kept,Kinoshita, 58 along w ...

and a smaller Amida-dō (阿弥陀堂) or

hall housing an image of Amitābha. Nishi Hongan-ji's ''Kura'' (倉), or storehouse, houses many National Treasures, most of which are not on view for the public. The ''shoin'' (書院), or study hall, is also quite famous; it is split into two sections, the ''shiro-shoin''(白書院), or white study hall, and the ''kuro-shoin''(黒書院), or black study hall. Nishi Hongan-ji also contains a large ''

'' complex from the medieval period, which was largely moved into the temple from elsewhere in Kyoto in the 16th century. This includes Hiunkaku (飛雲閣), a large tea pavilion, four

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

stages, one of which is thought to be the oldest in existence and the other being the largest outdoor Noh stage, and the Kokei no Niwa (虎渓の庭) garden. Some medieval parts of Nishi Hongan-ji are now independent organizations:

Ryukoku University is a private university in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as a school for Buddhist priests of the Nishi Hongan-ji denomination in 1639, and became a secularized university in 1876. The university's professors and students founded the literary ...

and Kōshō-ji.

References

Bibliography

* Ducor, Jérôme : ''Terre Pure, Zen et autorité : La Dispute de l'ère Jôô et la Réfutation du Mémorandum sur des contradictions de la foi par Ryônyo du Honganji, avec une traduction annotée du Ha Anjin-sôi-no-oboegaki'' (Collège de France, Bibliothèque de l'Institut des Hautes Etudes Japonaises); Paris, De Boccard, 2007 (). * Popular Buddhism In Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture by Esben Andreasen, p. 11 University of Hawaii Press 1998, * Rogers, Minor L and Ann T. (1990)
The Honganji: Guardian of the state (1868–1945)
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 17 (1), 3-28

External links

Homepage for Nishi Hongwanji
- English
Homepage for Shinshu Otani-ha Higashi Honganji Denomination
- English
Homepage for Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha Hongwanji International Center
- English
Homepage for Higashi Honganji-ha (Tokyo Honganji)
- Japanese {{DEFAULTSORT:Hongan-Ji 1321 establishments in Asia Religious organizations established in the 1320s World Heritage Sites in Japan Buddhist temples in Kyoto 1320s establishments in Japan

Early history

Modern divisions of the Hongan-ji

Nishi Hongan-ji

Higashi Hongan-ji

Joint activities

Important Hongan-ji buildings

Higashi Hongan-ji

Nishi Hongan-ji

See also

References

Bibliography

External links