, Buddhist name , was one of the six senior disciples 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 ...

and was the former Chief Priest of

Kuon-ji is a major Buddhist temple in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. Founded by Nichiren in 1281 it is today the head temple of Nichiren Shū. While the Ikegami Honmon-ji in Tokyo is also the Nichiren sect's administrative centre, Kuon-ji today plays an i ...

temple in Mount Minobu, Japan. Various Nichiren sects in Japan claim to have been founded by Nikkō, the most prominent being

Nichiren Shōshū is a branch of Nichiren Buddhism based on the traditionalist teachings of the 13th century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282), claiming him as its founder through his senior disciple Nikko Shonin (1246–1333), the founder of ...

and some lineages within Nichiren Shū. Nikkō kept meticulous records and highly organized religious practice during his lifetime, and is responsible for much of the records that survive today. Nikkō singularly upheld the doctrine that Nichiren was the ''True and Eternal Buddha'' in the Third Age of Buddhism and therefore is considered by schools stemming from Nikkō such

and the Soka Gakkai as the legitimate successor to the ministry and legacy of

. Nikko established the Head Temple Taisekiji at

Fujinomiya is a city located in central Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 132,507 in 56,655 households, and a population density of 340 persons per km². The total area of the city is . History The city name comes from ...

in 1290, as well as enshrining the

Dai Gohonzon The Dai Gohonzon of the High Sanctuary of the Essential Teachings, commonly known as the Dai Gohonzon (Japanese: 大御本尊 ''The Supreme (Great) Gohonzon'' or Honmon—Kaidan—no—Dai—Gohonzon, Japanese: 本門戒壇の大御本 ...

image. In 1332, four months before his death, he designated

Nichimoku , Buddhist name: ''Niidakyo Ajari Nichimoku'', was a junior disciple of Nichiren who sided with Nikkō Shōnin after Nichiren's death. Nikkō Shōnin later appointed Nichimoku as his successor as Head Priest (''Kancho'') of Taiseki-ji temple. ...

Shonin as his successor. The grave of Nikkō remains today in Kitayama Honmonji, Omosu, in Suruga Province where he lived for thirty-six years, establishing a Buddhist seminary that affiliated in the Hokke shū (法華宗) religion. The ''Koshi-E'' memorial feast of his death anniversary is commemorated on February 6 (''Nichiren Shoshu O-tai-ya'') and February 7 (''Gosho-to-e ceremony'').

Early life

Nikkō was born at Kajikazawa in Koma District of Kai Province. His father, Oi-no Kitsuroku was from Totsumi province and later moved to Kai province while maintaining his

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

career. He died when Nikkō was a child. Nikkō's mother was Myofuku Tsunashima () and was from what is now Shizuoka Prefecture. He was raised by his grandfather, Nyudo Yui. As a child, he entered 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 ...

temple Shijuku-in, in Fujiwakabacho, Iwabuchi Ichirizuka. He took the acolyte name, "Hōki-bō" and received his education here, which as well as Tendai doctrine, included Chinese classics, Japanese literature, poetry, calligraphy, as well as other subjects.

As Nichiren’s disciple

In 1257,

visited ''Jisso-ji'' Temple closely affiliated with ''Shijuku-in'' Temple where he studied various Buddhist sutras in its library for his treatise ''Risshō Ankoku Ron'' (立正安国論, English: "''On Establishing the Correct teaching for the Peace of the Land''"). Nikkō served Nichiren here, and vowed to become his disciple. In addition, Nikkō also accompanied Nichiren on his two exiles. Nikkō is also credited with preserving many of Nichiren's voluminous writings. He was particularly careful to ensure the survival of Nichiren's many letters written in simple characters (

Kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most p ...

) for uneducated followers. He was also instrumental in gaining

to become a junior disciple of Nichiren. On 8 October 1282, Nikkō became one of the six senior priests whom Nichiren designated to carry on his faith after his death. “On the eighth day of the tenth month, he designated six senior priests to act as key figures and take responsibility for propagation in their respective areas. They were, in order of their conversion, Nisshō, Nichirō, Nikkō, Nikō, Nitchō, and Nichiji”. According to various Nichiren school that claim Nikko as their founder, on October 13, 1282, Nichiren further designated Nikkō the chief priest of

, the temple at Mt.

Minobu is a town located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 11,674 in 5447 households, and a population density of 39 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Minobu is in south-central Yamanash ...

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the ...

, where Nichiren had spent the last years of his life as purportedly recorded in a transfer document called ''Minobu-zan Fuzoku-sho'' ("Document entrusting Mt. Minobu"); however, the authenticity of this document is disputed by some Nichiren schools. Later that same day, Nichiren died at Ikegami, now part of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. At Minobu Nikkō recorded the “lectures on the Lotus Sutra” that the Daishonin gave to his disciples and compiled them as ''The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings'' (OTT). After the Daishonin’s passing, Nikkō Shōnin collected and copied his teacher’s writings, which he called the ''Gosho'', or ''honorable writings''. Following Nichiren's 100th day funeral ceremonies, Nikkō left Ikegami on October 21 to carry Nichiren's ashes back to Mount Minobu, arriving on October 25. On the centenarian anniversary of Nichiren's death, Nikkō, the other five senior priests, and their disciples conducted a 100th-day memorial service, after which the others departed for their own territories where they were most active. Nikkō carried out his duties as chief priest of Kuon-ji, teaching disciples and looking after the laity. Central to his work was attending, cleaning and maintaining Nichiren's tomb, and collecting and cataloguing Nichiren's many writings for preservation and perpetuation.

Burton Watson Burton Dewitt Watson (June 13, 1925April 1, 2017) was an American sinologist, translator, and writer known for his English translations of Chinese and Japanese literature.Stirling 2006, pg. 92 Watson's translations received many awards, includi ...

: The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol 1 in 1999 and vol 2 in 2006

Isolation from other disciples

Latter feelings of animosity and discord grew after the second death anniversary of Nichiren's 100th Day Memorial ceremony (23 January 1283) when, according to Nikko, the rotation system agreed in the "Shuso Gosenge Kiroku" (English: Record document of founder's demise) and ''Rembo Cho'' (English: Rotation Wheel System) to clean and maintain Nichiren's grave, was being abandoned by the other five senior disciples. By the third anniversary of Nichiren's death (13 October 1284), Nikkō claimed that the other five senior priests no longer returned to Nichiren's tomb in Mount Minobu, citing the

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

hoofs and other signs of neglect at the gravesite. In addition, Nikkō accused that after Nichiren's death, the other disciples slowly began to deviate from Nichiren's teachings. Chief among these complaints was the syncretism by some of the disciples to worship images of both

Shakyamuni Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

while admonishing other disciple priests for signing their names "Tendai Shamon" of the

Buddhist school in the subsequent documents notarized and sent to the Kamakura government. Furthermore, Nikko alleged that the other disciples became condescending towards some of Nichiren's writings because they were not written in

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

, but in the Japanese

Katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived f ...

syllabary, which was deemed inferior at the time. Accordingly, Nikko Shonin claimed that the other senior disciples permitted Gohonzons originally inscribed by Nichiren to be buried with lay and priestly disciples, a highly controversial practice accused by the Head Temple Taisekiji to be sacrilegious and impermissible to present time. The steward of the temple district, ''Hagiri Sanenaga'', who had been converted by Nikkō, also began to commit unorthodox practices which Nikkō deemed to be

heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

, such as the following: # The crafting of a standing statue of

as an object of worship. # The donation of

noren are traditional Japanese fabric dividers hung between rooms, on walls, in doorways, or in windows. They usually have one or more vertical slits cut from the bottom to nearly the top of the fabric, allowing for easier passage or viewing. are ...

shrine curtains and horses to the Mishima Taisha Shinto shrine, at the time an honorary shrine of the Hōjō-clan shogunate. # The procurement of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

lumber for the Shinto Gassan Shrine. # The attendance of a memorial service dedicated to the stupa of Amida Buddha along with giving monetary donations to its

Nembutsu Nianfo (, Japanese: , , vi, niệm Phật) is a term commonly seen in Pure Land Buddhism. In the context of Pure Land practice, it generally refers to the repetition of the name of Amitābha. It is a translation of Sanskrit '' '' (or, "recoll ...

priests in Fukushi ward, Nanbu,

These controversial acts received tolerance from another senior disciple, ''Mimbu Nikō'' (民部日向, 1253–1314) to be acceptable due to having been done ordinarily with the knowledge of Nichiren while he was alive. Accordingly, Hagiri Sanenaga provided his own personal reason that it was customary for his political family to make homage to the Shinto shrine of the Kamakura Shogunate, as well as reasoning that he had provided monetary donations to other Buddhist schools even when Nichiren himself was alive. Such developments eventually led Nikkō to conclude that Nichiren's enlightened entity no longer resided at Mount Minobu. Furthermore, he entered a state of mental depression and deeply felt that Kuon-ji Temple was no longer the place for perpetuating Nichiren's teachings, causing him to pack up his personal belongings, the

mandala and some venerated relics belonging to Nichiren to depart, never to return. Nikkō left Mount Minobu with a group of select disciples in the spring of 1289. ''Nanjo Shichijo-jiro Tokimitsu'', a lay believer residing near Mount Fuji took great pity on Nikko Shonin and his disciples and offered them

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

to stay, later donating a tract of land for a new temple that became

Taiseki-ji , more commonly just , informally known as , is the administrative center of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. It is located in the foothills of Mount Fuji in Kamijo, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Taiseki-ji was founded in 1290 by Nikkō Shōn ...

Temple. Taiseki-ji is today the head temple of the

school and, since its founding on 12 October 1290, has been a major center of the Kōmon-ha (興門派, also called the 富士派: Fuji-ha) branch of Nichiren Buddhism, as the schools stemming from Nikkō were traditionally known. Upon nearing death on 10 November 1332, Nikkō named his disciple

(1260–1333) as his successor and passed onto him the ''Ozagawari Gohonzon'', inscribed in 8 April 1308 for the memorial honor of the martyr “Jinshiro”, approximately 14 years after the persecution of Hei No Saimon Yoritsuna. This mandala is now enshrined inside the Dai-Kyakuden, along with his Juzu beads made of Crystal and Shimamenu Onyx which are now preserved in the Gohozo building of

Taisekiji , more commonly just , informally known as , is the administrative center of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. It is located in the foothills of Mount Fuji in Kamijo, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Taiseki-ji was founded i ...

. For the remaining 36 years of his life, Nikkō then retired a few miles away to Omosu, Suruga Province where he founded a seminary and temple, Kitayama Honmon-ji belonging to Hokke-shū (法華宗) school, and concentrated on training disciples until his death in the second lunar month of 1333 at the age of 87. A grave claiming to house the ash remains of Nikkō Shōnin is located in Kitayama Honmonji Temple in Suruga Province. After his death within this same temple, a statue image of the solar goddess Amaterasu Omi-Kami and the protector god Hachiman was enshrined, donated by some early Hokkekō believers. Such sculptural images are considered only decorative in present teachings of the Nichiren Shōshū school.

Buddhist articles claimed to have been brought to Taisekiji Temple

According to the doctrinal beliefs of

, Nikkō Shonin left Mount Minobu with several articles pertaining to Nichiren, namely the following: * The

Mandala * Transfer inheritance documents of his legitimacy as chief priest of

and as successor * Several Gohonzon mandalas inscribed by Nichiren * Remaining partial bones (17 pieces) and cremated ashes of

* The ''Go-Nikuge'', surviving tooth

dentures Dentures (also known as false teeth) are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth, and are supported by the surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable ( removable partial denture o ...

belonging to

* A dragon candlestick, ''koro'' incense burner and vase Nichiren used when summoning

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

during times of drought for the peasant devotees. * The statue of Nichiren Daishōnin currently enshrined within the Hoando Warehouse. * The compilations of Ongi Kuden, (now lost to history).

Claim to the successorship of Nichiren

Some followers of the Nichiren schools stemming from Nikkō, in particular the Nichiren Shōshū school, as well as the Soka Gakkai, view Nikkō as the legitimate successor to Nichiren. They base this claim on a document dated the ninth lunar month of 1282 called the ''Nichiren ichigo guhō fuzoku-sho'' (“Document Entrusting the Law that Nichiren Propagated throughout His Life”). In this document, Nichiren entrusts the "entirety of his lifetime of teaching" to Nikkō and names him the "Great Master of propagation of the essential teaching". These documents contained in a treasure box are alleged to have been stolen by clan head Takeda Katsuyori on behalf of the Nishiyama Temple, a faction of Nichiren Shū during the 15th century via force. Nikkō also designated six new disciples (Nichidai, Nitchō, Nichidō, Nichimyō, Nichigō, and Nichijo), whom he charged with the task of propagation after his death. Other Nichiren lineages based on the other original five senior disciples vehemently reject this claim of successorship, as they claim the surviving document does not exist in Nichiren's hand or any of his immediate disciples, rather copied down by Nikko's extant disciples. Instead, such schools claim that Nikko was only a resident priest in Kuonji Temple before 1285, and later became the Chief Priest of that temple from 1285–1289, just before he moved to the

area. Some of Nikkō's direct disciples also eventually spawned schools that deviated to some degree or another from his own doctrines, often due to political pressure or internal power plays going back and forth to separating or rejoining the Nikko-related temples of the

area before and after the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

Original Japanese terms

#身延山付嘱書, also called the ''Ikegami sōjō'' (池上相承) "Succession document ritten atIkegami" #日蓮一期弘法付嘱書: ''Nichiren ichigo guhō fuzoku-sho'' #日蓮一期の弘法: ''Nichiren ichigo no guhō'' #本門弘通の大導師: ''Honmon Guzū no Daidōshi''

References

Notes

Sources

* ''Nikkō Shōnin Nichimoku Shōnin Shōden'' (日興上人･日目上人正伝: "Orthodox biography of Nikkō Shōnin and Nichimoku Shōnin"), Taisekiji, 1982 * ''Nichiren Daishōnin Shōden'' (日蓮大聖人正伝: "Orthodox biography of Nichiren Daishōnin"), Taisekiji, 1981 * ''The Life of Nichiren Daishonin''. Kirimura, Yasuji. Nichiren Shoshu International Center (a former department of the Soka Gakkai), 1980 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikko 1246 births 1333 deaths Japanese religious leaders Japanese Buddhist clergy Nichiren Buddhist monks Nichiren Buddhism Kamakura period Buddhist clergy