Nikko (priest)

Nikkō (日興) (1246-1333), also known as Nikkō Shōnin, is the founder of a major branch of Nichiren Buddhism that includes the present-day Nichiren Shoshu school of Japanese Buddhism. His full Buddhist name was Hawaki-bō Byakuren Ajari Nikkō (伯耆房 白蓮阿闍梨 日興).

Related Topics:
1246 - 1333 - Nichiren Buddhism - Nichiren Shoshu - Japanese Buddhism

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Nikkō became Nichiren's disciple sometime between 1258 and 1260—the precise date is unknown. He served Nichiren closely from then until the latter's passing, even accompanying Nichiren on his two exiles. Nikkō was a master calligrapher as well as well versed in Japanese poetry and Chinese literature, and he is 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 language for uneducated followers.

Related Topics:
Nichiren - 1258 - 1260

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On October 8, 1282, Nikkō was one of six senior priests whom Nichiren designated to carry on his faith after his passing. On October 13, Nichiren further designated Nikkō the chief priest of Kuonji, the temple at Mt. Minobu where Nichiren had spent the last years of his life, in a document called Minobu-zan Fuzoku-sho{{ref|Minobuzan}} ("Document entrusting Mt. Minobu"). Later that day, Nichiren passed away at Ikegami, now part of Tokyo.

Related Topics:
October 8 - 1282 - October 13 - Kuonji - Minobu - Tokyo

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Following Nichiren's funeral, Nikkō left Ikegami on October 21 to carry Nichiren's ashes back to Mt. Minobu, arriving on October 25. On the hundredth-day anniversary of Nichiren's passing, Nikkō, the other five senior priests, and their disciples conducted a 100th-day memorial service, after which the others departed for the localities where they were active.

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From then on Nikkō carried out his duties as chief priest of Kuonji, teaching disciples and looking after the laity. Central to his work was protecting the Dai-Gohonzon (the object of veneration Nichiren had left behind), attending to Nichiren's tomb, and collecting and cataloging Nichiren's many writings, all to ensure the untainted perpetuation of Nichiren's teachings.

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Over the following years, the other five senior priests only rarely returned to Mt. Minobu, and they began to slowly deviate from Nichiren's orthodox teachings. For example, some started to worship images of Sakyamuni Buddha or to identify themselves as priests of the Tendai school. The steward of the district, a convert of Nikkō's called Hagiri Sanenaga, also began to commit "heresies"—actions such as building a private temple dedicated to the Buddha Amida and visiting Shinto shrines—with assurances from one of the other six senior priests, Mimbu Nikō (民部日向, 1253–1314), that this was acceptable.

Related Topics:
Tendai - Shinto - 1253 - 1314

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These developments eventually led Nikkō to conclude that the spirit of Nichiren could no longer reside at Mt. Minobu, and that Kuonji was not the place for perpetuating Nichiren's teachings. As the priest whom Nichiren had selected to be his sole successor as high priest, Nikkō decided it was time to leave.

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Carrying the Dai-Gohonzon, Nichiren's ashes, and a number of other relics, Nikkō left Mt. Minobu with his disciples in the spring of 1289. Nanjo Tokimitsu, a lay believer residing near Mt. Fuji in today's Fujinomiya, offered them a place to stay, later donating a tract of land for a new temple that became Taisekiji. Taisekiji is today the head temple of the Nichiren Shoshu school and, since its founding on October 12, 1290, has always been a major center of the Kōmon (興門派, also called the 富士派: Fuji) branch of Nichiren Buddhism, as the schools stemming from Nikkō were traditionally known.

Related Topics:
1289 - Mt. Fuji - Fujinomiya - Taisekiji - Nichiren Shoshu

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After his involvement with the founding of Taisekiji, Nikkō named his disciple Nichimoku (1260–1333) as his successor and retired a few miles away to Omosu, where he founded a seminary and concentrated on training disciples until his passing in the second lunar month of 1333 at the age of 87.

Related Topics:
1260 - 1333

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