Shōchō Hagami (葉上照澄; August 15, 1903 – March 7, 1989) was a Japanese great
acharya
In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a religious teacher in Hinduism and Buddhism and a spiritual guide to Hindus and Buddhists. The designation has different meanings i ...
(大阿闍梨) of
Tendai Buddhism
, also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...
and one of the most prominent Japanese Buddhists of the 20th century. He served as President of the Japanese Religious Committee for World Federation and advocated the need for the cooperation of religious leaders, which transcends religious and denominational boundaries.
Hagami was originally a professor of
German philosophy
German philosophy, meaning philosophy in the German language or philosophy by German people, in its diversity, is fundamental for both the analytic and continental traditions. It covers figures such as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Immanuel Kant, ...
at
Taisho University and in turn served as a journalist for the
Sanyo Shimbun
The is a Japanese language daily newspaper published by . The company was founded on January 4, 1879.
The newspaper is based in Okayama, Japan. The newspaper covers national and international news stories and also news from Okayama and neighborin ...
. However, the untimely death of his wife as well as the defeat of Japan at
WWII
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
triggered him to pursue religious life, whereby to help Japan restore itself from the postwar devastation. In 1946, he entered the Buddhist monastery at
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 ...
, the headquarters of the Tendai school and the Mother Mountain of Japanese Buddhism.

Hagami was the 39th monk in history who completed the ordeal of endurance, perseverance, and both physical and mental strength, known as Sennichi
Kaihōgyō
The is an ascetic practice performed by Tendai Buddhist monks. The practice involves repeatedly walking a route on Mount Hiei, the location of the Tendai school headquarters, all the while offering prayers at halls, shrines and other sacred pl ...
in Japanese (千日回峰行), or “thousand-day around-the-peaks training.” He also completed other ordeals such as a thousand days of Unshin Kaihōgyō (運心回峰行) and a thousand days of Hokke Zanmaigyō (法華三昧行). While fostering new generations of Japan for lives of influence and service, Hagami was actively engaged in promoting reconciliation and peaceful coexistence across the world. He appealed to
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...
and other religious leaders of the world to create an International League of all religious people of the whole world in order to end all the wars among religions as well as all the conflicts caused in the name of religions.
Hagami once noted: “It is said that the root of all evil is human pride, obstinacy, human ego, class ego, racial ego, and national ego. Yet religion which is supposed, above all, to teach the casting away of ego, itself has the egoism of sects and religious institutions. And this is what makes me dislike religionists. . . . True religion is born from the abyss of despair. I believe that when it really becomes a question of whether mankind will survive or not, then religion will return to a purer position, and will set out in a great new direction.”
Hagami maintained that for the advancement of world peace,
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
,
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
, and
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
must be reconciled, and that Japanese Buddhists—as religious people of the first victim of nuclear attack in human history—must serve as mediators for that reconciliation. Accordingly, he visited Egypt and the Vatican many times and established close friendships with the Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...
as well as with Cardinal
Sergio Pignedoli
Sergio Pignedoli (4 June 1910 – 15 June 1980) was a prominent Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and a top candidate for pope. He served as auxiliary bishop to Pope Paul VI when he was archbishop of Milan, and as President of the ...
of the Vatican.
In July 1977, Hagami visited President Sadat and urged him to make peace with Israel. This was one of the triggers that led Sadat's dramatic journey to the Knesset in Israel. Sadat himself mentioned Hagami's impact on this initiation in his letter of gratitude to Hagami.

At Hagami's suggestion, Sadat also sponsored a communal service in November 1979, gathering representatives of Islam, Judaism and Christianity at the foot of Mount Sinai on the occasion of the transfer of the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...
from Israel to Egypt.
In October 1981, when Hagami learned about the assassination of Sadat, he felt personally responsible for Sadat's death. Sadat was said to have been killed for shaking hands with Jews, which Hagami urged Sadat to do. In March 1984, as a way, in part, to commemorate Sadat's death, Hagami organized a joint prayer meeting for world peace on Mount Sinai, by appealing to religious leaders in the US and Egypt. 130 people assembled there to represent Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and
Shinto
, also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
, from the US, Egypt, Israel and Japan, and prayed for the speedy end of the Middle East War and performed different religious ceremonies according to the respective styles of rituals.
In August 1987, Hagami invited prominent leaders of various religions of the world to hold the first Religious Summit Meeting on Mount Hiei, Japan, in order to advance peaceful coexistence, interfaith dialogue, and acceptance of others. He visited Israel in 1988 and was acquainted with a variety of religious leaders and scholars such as
André Chouraqui
Nathan André Chouraqui (; 11 August 1917 – 9 July 2007) was a French- Algerian- Israeli lawyer, writer, scholar and politician.
Early life
Chouraqui was born in Aïn Témouchent, Algeria. His parents, Isaac Chouraqui and Meleha Meyer, both ...
,
R.J. Zwi Werblowsky, and
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...
Mordechai Eliyahu
Mordechai Tzemach Eliyahu (; March 3, 1929 – June 7, 2010, on the Hebrew calendar: 21 Adar I, 5689 - 25 Sivan, 5770), . To further advance interfaith dialogue, Hagami planned to hold a Religious Summit Meeting in Jerusalem but died before its fruition.
[André Chouraqui, "On Rev. Hagami," in Miyamoto and Yokoyama, eds., ''Zansho'' (Otsu: Zenpon Sha, 1990), 432-37.]
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagami, Shōchō
1903 births
1989 deaths
Academic staff of Taisho University
20th-century Japanese philosophers
20th-century Japanese journalists
Japanese Buddhist clergy
Tendai Buddhist monks
Buddhist acharyas
20th-century Japanese male writers
20th-century Buddhist monks