Kakunyo (覚如) (1270-1351) is the great-grandson of
Shinran, founder of
Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism, and the third caretaker, or
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 ...
of the family mausoleum, which gradually became the
Hongan-ji
, also archaically romanized as Hongwanji, is the collective name of the largest school of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism (which further sub-divides into the Nishi and Higashi branches). 'Hongan-ji' may also refer to any one of several actual temple bu ...
Temple in
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese language, 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, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...
,
Japan. He was responsible for being the first to compile information about Shinran's life, and formalizing the new Jōdo Shinshū sect, while re-asserting power at the mausoleum away from Shinshu followers in the
Kantō region. Kakunyo was an avid writer whose liturgies comprise an important part of Jōdo Shinshū services, while his biography on Shinran, the is still an important source for scholars.
Mahayana Buddhists
Jōdo Shinshū
Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist priests
Kamakura period Buddhist clergy
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