was a Japanese

Buddhist 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 ...

monk, and founder of the Nipponzan-Myōhōji order of Buddhism. He is best known for his decision in 1947 to begin constructing Peace Pagodas in many locations around the world as shrines to

world peace World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...

. Fujii was born into a peasant family in the wilderness of the

Aso Caldera Aso caldera (also known as Asosan, the Aso Volcano or Mount Aso, although the later term usually is used related to its currently active vents) is a geographical feature of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It stretches 25 kilometers north to south ...

. At the age of 19, he was ordained a monk in the unusually ascetic and intellectual tradition of Hōon-ji in

Usuki, Ōita is a city located on the east coast of Ōita Prefecture, Japan. It is famous for its Usuki Stone Buddhas, a national treasure, and its soy sauce production. Recently it has become known for having the look and feel of a Japanese castle tow ...

. He started missionary activities in Manchuria in 1917 but the

Great Kanto earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

made him return to Japan in 1923. Reading of

Nichiren Nichiren (16 February 1222 – 13 October 1282) was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. Nichiren declared that the Lotus Sutra alone contains the highest truth of Buddhist teachings suited for the Third Age of ...

's declaration that the

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...

would one day be preached in India, he decided to go there. He arrived in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in January 1931 and walked throughout the town chanting the daimoku and beating a drum, a practice known as ''gyakku shōdai''.D.C. Ahir. ''The Pioneers of Buddhist Revival in India''. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1989. pp.50-54. In 1933, he met

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

at his

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Wardha district. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows at the north, west and south bounda ...

. Gandhi was honored by his presence, and added the ''daimoku'' to his ashram's prayers. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and despite the dangers to himself he declared himself in favour of pacifism and went round Japan actively promoting it.Klaus Schlichtmann (2009). Japan in the World: Shidehara Kijuro, Pacifism, and the Abolition of War. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. 29. He later recollected: "The Pacific war raged ever more brutally. I could no longer...keep silent about the war, in which people were killing one another. Thus I traveled through the whole of Japan and preached resistance against the war and dvocatedthe prayer for peace. It was a time in which any person who only spoke about resistance to the war, would go to prison because of that alone".

Peace pagodas

Nipponzan Myohoji monks and nuns lead peace walk to the UN

Beginning in the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

period, he preached noninvolvement and did hunger strikes for peace.Robert Kisala. ''Prophets of Peace''. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1999. pp. 50-55 He wrote: :The reason I came to espouse nonviolent resistance and the antiwar, antiarms position was not because I met with Mr. Gandhi. Rather, it was because the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children, burning and poisoning he population a tragedy without precedent in human history, leading Japan to sue for unconditional surrender. In this we see the mad, stupid, barbaric nature of modern warfare. The first Peace Pagodas were built as a symbol of peace in the Japanese cities of

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

and

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

where the

atomic bombs A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

took the lives of over 150,000 people, almost all of whom were civilian, at the end of

. Fujii returned to India and built a World Peace Pagoda in

Rajgir Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the d ...

, in 1965. He also built a Japanese style temple in Rajgir which is still inhabited today. By 2000, at least 80 Peace Pagodas had been built around the world in Europe, Asia, and the United States, though not all are due to his movement. While the Pagodas have been one expression of their call for peace, Nipponzan-Myōhōji also has carried its prayers to the world in numerous walks.Nichidatsu Fujii: Taking a Path of Peace
Tranquil is this Realm of Mine: Dharma Talks & Writings of The Most Venerable Nichidatsu Fujii, Nipponzan Myohoji 2007. Since 1976, when a group joined the Continental Walk for Disarmament and Social Justice across the United States, their presence has been an important part of many movements for peace and justice. "We must go out among the people." Fujii taught. "In the Sutra there is a line that states, 'So this man, practicing in the world, shall disperse the gloom of living.' Religion, which does not 'go' will not be able to provide the relief which must be brought about." The prayers of the Daimoku are to disperse this gloom. "Religion becomes isolated from the happenings of the world because it tends to be occupied in seeking solutions to one's own spiritual matters. If we fail to prevent a

nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...

, one's desire for security is nothing but a dream. All must be awakened."

References

Works

* Nichidatsu Fujii; ''My Non Violence: An Autobiography of a Japanese Buddhist;'' Japan Buddha Sangha Press 1975 * Nichidatsu Fujii; ''Buddhism for World Peace;'' Japan-Bharat Sarvodaya Mitrata Sangha 1980 * Nichidatsu Fujii, Yumiko Miyazaki; ''Bow to the Buddha in You: Dharma Talks and Writings of the Most Venerable Nichidatsu Fujii;'' Nipponzan Myohoji 2009

External links

* Information on Nichidatsu Fujii (Guruji) and the continuing work of the order that he founded.
Some photos of Hōon-ji
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fujii, Nichidatsu 1885 births 1985 deaths Nichiren Buddhist monks Nonviolence advocates 20th-century Buddhist monks

Peace pagodas

See also

References

Works

External links