The Monshu (門主), or ''keeper of the gate'' is a term sometimes used in Japanese

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

to denote the head of a monastery, as in the case of

Jōdo-shū , also known as Jōdo Buddhism, is a branch of Pure Land Buddhism derived from the teachings of the Japanese ex-Tendai monk Hōnen. It was established in 1175 and is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan, along with Jōdo Shi ...

and

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 ...

Buddhism, but in the case of the

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 ...

sub-sect 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, it refers to the spiritual leader of the sect, and direct descendant of its founder

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 ...

Jōdo Shinshū

The Monshu in

Buddhism was the guardian of

's mausoleum, as well as the head of the sect. This position was started when the youngest daughter of Shinran, Kakushinni, installed her son as the custodian of the small shrine which held Shinran's image and ashes at Ōtani, 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 time the small shrine grew into what is now 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 bui ...

temples (east and west). When the temple split into two temples, the West Temple, or ''Nishi Honganji'' continued to use the term Monshu, while the East Temple, or ''Higashi Hongan-ji'' gradually adopted the term "Hossu". In the line of Monshu descendants, noteworthy Monshu include: *

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 ...

Shōnin (1270–1351), the 3rd Monshu, who first asserted the authority of the

. *

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 ...

Shōnin (1415–1499), the 8th Monshu, the so-called "Great Reformer". * Kyōnyo Shōnin (1558–1614), the 12th Monshu, oversaw the split of the Hongan-ji temple and founded the East Temple, while his younger brother, Junnyo Shōnin, took over administration of the West Temple. * Junnyo Shōnin (1577–1630), the 12th Monshu (Nishi Hongan-ji), who build the

Tsukiji Hongan-ji , sometimes archaically romanized ''Hongwan-ji'', is a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist temple located in the Tsukiji district of Tokyo, Japan. The temple is adjacent to Tsukiji Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line. History Tsukiji Hongan-ji's pre ...

temple in Tokyo. * Shōnyo Shōnin (1911–2002), the 23rd Monshu (Nishi Hongan-ji, noteworthy for his efforts to help spread Jōdo Shinshū teachings abroad. As of writing, the current and 25th Monshu of the Nishi Hongan-ji temple is Sennyo Shōnin (Ōtani Kōjun, born 1977). He succeeded his father Sokunyo Shōnin (Ōtani Kōshin, born 1945) on 6 June 2014. Japanese Buddhist titles {{buddhism-stub