Nichiren’s Sangha Series Later Disciples: Kuonjo’in “Nabekanmuri” Nisshin

By Luigi Finocchiaro

Nisshin was from the generation of Nichiren disciples that had no direct connection with the founder or those who did. As other charismatic leaders in the Muromachi period, Nisshin was greatly inspired by Nichiren, his endeavors and those of other disciples who did not spare their efforts to emulate him. Nisshin became very inspired by the actions of Jogyo’in Nichiyu, the third abbot of Hokekyoji. Nichiei as well as the fourth and fifth abbots at Hokekyoji have been very important for his upbringing as their own relationship to Nichiren was still concrete, albeit not direct. They had met a disciple of someone who actually knew Nichiren as it was the case of Nichiyu, a disciple of Nichiko who trained directly under Nichiren. The level of inspiration was still huge and even if the legends about Nisshin’s ordeals were probably produced afterwards by his successors, he was definitively an iconic and charismatic preacher.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781667196565

Book preview

References

Kuonjō’in Nisshin: family origins and tonsure

Nisshin (1407~1488) was born on the Bōsō peninsula, in Kazusa province, modern-day Chiba prefecture from a wealthy family in the Haniya clan. Although some details are not completely clear, according to the Haniyashō document², his biological father Chiba nyūdō Hōgi³, made a contract with Haniya sakon jōgen Shigetsugu to adopt him and his elder brother. Shigetsugu nyūdō Nikkei, was a clansman at the service of the Inugake Uesugi house, also known as Shijō Uesugi-ke, a clan of bureaucrats that administered a subsidiary agency in the Kantō area (kantōkanrei). The clan was connected to the shōgun Ashikaga Takauji (1305~1358), who put an end to the Kamakura regency. The records of the Haniya family temple at Daishōzan Myōsen-ji⁴, state that the Buddhist alias of Nisshin’s mother was Myōkō (? ~1462), yet it is not clear if she was the adoptive or birth mother.

C:\Users\finocchiarol\Work Folders\Desktop\Nabe\Untitled4.jpg

Nisshin’s childhood name was Toragiku-maru and he tonsured along with his elder brother Chiyozu-maru (? ~1475), under the supervision of their uncle Myōshin’in Nichiei (1346~1423), the chief priest of Hōsen’in. This sub-temple, located within the Nakayama Hokekyō-ji compound was established over six centuries ago thanks to Wakamiya ajari Nichi’in, a disciple of Jōgyō’in Nichiyū (1298~1374). Wakamiya ajari’s father Ōta Gorō saemonjō Shigeaki, was the elder brother of Sotsu’kō Nichikō (1257~1314) a direct disciple of Nichiren. Nichikō was actually the son of Ōta Jōmyō (1222~1283), a key lay believer in the area, who also knew Nichiren well.

Although originally not intended to be a temple per se, the first structure of Hōsen’in refers to one of the four in’ge lodgings of the Nakayama Hokekyō-ji compound. Chikan’in Nittei (? ~1361 or 1369) is said to have founded Hōsen’in as a separate semi-independent structure. Jōgyō’in Nichiyū, whom Nisshin greatly admired, was the adopted son of Chiba Sanetada and while he was born way after Nichiren’s passing, he still had a strong bond with those who met him directly.

Nisshin’s teacher Nichiei was the child of Haniya Shigeyoshi and tonsured at Hōsen’in under Nittei at the age of four. During the Ōei years (1394~1428), Nichiei established Daishōzan Myōsen-ji in Haniya with donations from his father and passed away when Nisshin was fifteen so he continued to study under Ben ajari Nisson (1323~1399), the fourth abbot of Hokekyō-ji.

During his lifetime Nichiei was very active. In 1390, Nisson authored the Shichijō-hōfuku, a dress-code for monks concerning the robe colors that became a cause for dispute among the Nichiren sangha, especially between the Minobusan Kuon-ji and Nakayama Hokekyō-ji factions. As the two groups could not reach an agreement, they set up a debate in Kamakura where Nichiei disputed instead of Nisson against Nichiden and Nichinō from the Minobu side (Nakao, 1971). Nichiei won the debate basing his refutation on the fact that there was no evidence that Nichiren had specifically banned the dress-code, thus greatly increasing the Nakayama faction’s prestige.

In the aftermath, Nichiei is said to have established several temples in the Bōsō peninsula, 76 according to local legends, while the Yuzuri-shō register of inheritances mentions about a more realistic thirty (Terao, 2004). As it was often the custom among the Hokke groups, disciples ascribed the establishment of temple to their teachers out of respect and prestige. Nisson inscribed a mandala⁵ for shamon Nichiei on the 18th day of the fifth month in 1397 in order to be enshrined at Honkō-ji in Ōshū province (Iwate prefecture) and Nissen another scroll for Myōshō-ji in Musashi province (Tokyo and Saitama). Jōgyō’in Nichiyū bestowed a three-sheet mandala to Haniya sakon no shōgen odō on the fifth day of the seventh month in 1361, still preserved at Myōsen-ji. He is supposed to be Haniya Nichikei