January 20, 2025
Nichiren Shonin and His Lay Followers（8）
By Rev. Kanji Tamura
The Nanjo Family (2)
Nanjo Shichiro Jiro Tokimitsu (1259–1332) succeeded Nanjo Hyoe Shichiro (?–1265). Hearing the news of the death of Hyoe Shichiro, Nichiren Shonin visited his grave at the Ueno District of Fuji County. Tokimitsu, only seven years old then, was too young to accept the faith of Nichiren. However, his encounter with the Founder planted the seed of faith in him.
From around 1274 when Nichiren Shonin entered Minobusan, the relationship between Nichiren and Tokimitsu developed rapidly. Being very honest and straightforward, Tokimitsu continued to keep a strong faith. As shown by the letters written by Nichiren Shonin, which exist today, Tokimitsu was the first person that sent offerings to Nichiren Shonin after the Founder entered Minobusan. He remained an eager follower of Nichiren Shonin even after the death of the Founder.
In his letter dated the 11th day of the 11th month in 1274, the Founder writes Tokimitsu, “I was told that though your father was a warrior, he faced the last minutes of life peacefully because he believed in the Lotus Sutra single-mindedly. Since you succeeded your father, professing the faith in the Lotus Sutra alike, the soul of your father is supposed to be very much delighted in the other world. It is really admirable. If your father were alive, how pleased he would have been. Those who keep the faith in this sutra will be reunited, even if they are unrelated, on Mt. Sacred Eagle.
“How much more possible it is for you and your late father, eager believers of the Lotus Sutra, to be reborn on the same Mt. Sacred Eagle! You may regret that you lost your father while you were still young and were deprived of the privilege of receiving paternal guidance while other people enjoyed living together with their parents for 50 or 60 years. I can hardly keep back my tears when I think of your heart.” These words of benevolence must have reached the depth of Tokimitsu’s heart.
In the first month of the year after Nichiren Shonin entered Minobusan, he dispatched Nikko to Ueno of Fuji County to recite the “Jigage” verse in front of the grave of Hyoe Shichiro. Thus Nichiren Shonin tried to establish rapport between Nikko and the Nanjo family, making them leading figures, respectively, of disciples and lay followers in the Fuji district.
Tokimitsu, his mother and wife, and members of the family often sent offerings to Minobusan. Beginning with coins, the articles sent to Nichiren Shonin included food such as white rice, fried rice, dried cooked rice, rice cake, wheat, seasonings such as salt, oil and vinegar, vegetables and fruits such as yam, taro, burdock, radish, soybean, ginger, bamboo shoots, citron, orange, persimmon, medicinal herbs, sake, tofu, devil’s tongue paste and others. Offerings were mostly commodities rather than money. This was because Minobusan was near the Fuji district where Tokimitsu was engaged in farming.
Tokimitsu was sometimes condemned by the Kamakura government for his dedication to the faith in the Lotus Sutra. He, however, declined to abandon his faith in the Lotus Sutra. In 1279, Nichiren’s followers at Atsuwara of Fuji County were persecuted by the Kamakura Shogunal officials. Three followers were beheaded and about 20 devotees were imprisoned. Nisshu and Nichiben, leaders in this area, had to flee as far as Shimousa, present Chiba Prefecture. By order of Nichiren Shonin, Tokimitsu gave refuge to Shinto priests and other persons of the area who received teachings from Nisshu and other Nichiren priests.
In the government, Tokimitsu was blamed behind his back for his support of Nichiren Shonin. Tokimitsu overcame the difficulty and stuck to his faith. Nichiren Shonin even called him, “Ueno Sage,” and acclaimed him, saying “He seems to have attained Buddhahood.” In the funeral of Nichiren Shonin, Tokimitsu played the role of “scattering flowers.”
Tokimitsu was also a follower of Nikko, who claimed Tokimitsu as his “foremost disciple.” When Nikko left Minobusan in 1288, Tokimitsu welcomed Nikko, donated land at Ooishigahara of Fuji. There he built the Taisekiji Temple in 1292. However, several years later, Nikko moved to Omosu of Kitayama upon the request of Ishikawa Yoshitada, local lord of Kitayama of Fuji. In 1298, the 17th anniversary of Nichiren Shonin’s death, three structures—a hall enshrining the statue of Nichiren Shonin, a shrine dedicated to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu and the fundamental Hommonji (the origin of the KitayamaHommonji)—were constructed.
Nikko had the intention of building the foundation temple based on the teachings of the hommon division of the Lotus Sutra at Kitayama, Fuji. It is suggested that he regarded the Hommonji of Kitayama as the center of his mission rather than the Taisekiji Temple. It is stated on the munefuda plate (wooden amulet) of the Kitayama Hommonji that the temple was built by the donation of Tokimitsu and Ishikawa Kazutada, assisted by “Hokke devotees of Koizumi” and “Hokke group members of Ueno.” Ueno is the place of Tokimitsu, the master of the Nanjo family and he was apparently the leader of the group. Both the Taisekiji Temple, which now belongs to the Nichiren Sho-shu, and the Hommonji developed into the strongholds of the group of Nikko.
Tokimitsu passed away on the first day of the fifth month in 1332. His posthumous name is Daigyo, meaning great practice. The Myorenji Temple was built at the site of his mansion in Ueno. Nichimoku, his nephew, and Nichido and Nichigyo, his grandsons succeeded to the head priest of the Taisekiji Temple, and Nichian, also a grandson, succeeded to the head priest of the Myohonji Temple, Yasuda, Chiba Prefecture.
(Trans. K. S.)
(to be continued)