Kokuchūkai

Kokuchūkai Headquarters

The Kokuchūkai (国柱会, "Pillar of the Nation Society") is a lay-oriented Nichiren Buddhist group. It was founded by Tanaka Chigaku in 1880 as Rengekai (蓮華会, "Lotus Blossom Society") and renamed Risshō Ankokukai (立正安国会) in 1884 before adopting its current name in 1914.

History

The lay Nichiren Buddhist organization[1] now known as the Kokuchūkai was founded by Tanaka Chigaku in 1880 as Rengekai ("Lotus Blossom Society") and renamed Risshō Ankokukai in 1884 before adopting its current name in 1914.[1][2] The group's modern name is derived from a passage in the Kaimoku-shō [ja], a writing of the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, the 13th-century monk Nichiren, which reads "I will be the pillar of Japan" (われ日本の柱とならん, ware nihon no hashira to naran).[3]

Originally based in Yokohama, the group shifted its head office to Tokyo, Kyoto-Osaka, Kamakura and Miho, Shizuoka Prefecture before finally moving back to Tokyo.[1][4] The group is currently based in Ichinoe, Edogawa-ku.[1]

Teachings

Among the group's principal teachings are to return to the teachings Nichiren and unite the various sects of Nichiren Buddhism.[1] The group's teachings are characterized by a strong form of Nichirenism.[1]

The group's sacred text is the Lotus Sutra[1] and their main object of reverence is the Sado Shigen Myō Mandara (佐渡始原妙曼荼羅), a mandala supposedly made by Nichiren on the island of Sado.[1][5]

Membership

At its height in 1924, the group's membership was estimated at over 7000.[4] The literary figures Takayama Chogyū and Kenji Miyazawa[6] were members of the Kokuchūkai for a time. The group's official website continues to claim them,[7][8] but they ultimately rejected Tanaka's nationalistic views.[4]

Publications

The group's publications include the monthly magazines Nichiren-shugi (日蓮主義, "Nichirenism") and Shin-sekai (真世界, "True World").[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Britannica Kokusai Dai-hyakkajiten article "Kokuchūkai". 2007. Britannica Japan Co.
  2. ^ Eiichi Ōtani, Ajia no Bukkyō-nashonarizumu no Hikaku-bunseki ("A Comparative Analysis of Buddhist Nationalism in Asia"). International Research Center for Japanese Studies. p 115
  3. ^ Nakahira 1994.
  4. ^ a b c Jacqueline I. Stone, "By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree: politics and the issue of the ordination platform in modern lay Nichiren Buddhism". IN: Steven Heine; Charles S. Prebish (ed.) Buddhism in the Modern World. New York: Oxford University Press. 2003. ISBN 0195146972. pp 197-198.
  5. ^ Risshō Ankoku no jitsugen e on the Kokuchūkai's official website.
  6. ^ Keene, Donald (1999), A History of Japanese Literature: Volume 4: Dawn to the West — Japanese Literature of the Modern Era (Poetry, Drama, Criticism), New York: Columbia University Press, p. 285, ISBN 978-0-2311-1439-4.
  7. ^ "Takayama Chogyū" on the Kokuchūkai's official website.
  8. ^ "Kenji Miyazawa" on the Kokuchūkai's official website.

Works cited