, also known as , is a

Nichiren was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. His teachings form the basis of Nichiren Buddhism, a unique branch of Japanese Mahayana Buddhism based on the '' Lotus Sutra''. Nichiren declared that the '' Lotus Sutra ...

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Nichiren Shū: Seichō-ji
/ref> temple located in the city of Kamogawa in

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

, Japan. Along with

Kuon-ji is a major Buddhism, Buddhist temple in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. Founded by Nichiren in 1281 it is today the head temple of Nichiren Shū. While the Ikegami Honmon-ji in Tokyo is also the Nichiren sect's administrative centre, Kuon-ji today ...

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 787,592 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

, Ikegami Honmon-ji in the south of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, and Tanjō-ji also in Kamogawa City, Seichō-ji is one of the "Four Sacred Places of Nichiren Shū." The Buddhist priest

was once educated at the temple, and was chosen at one time to be a successor to its priesthood before he began his own ministry which later became

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism (), also known as ''Hokkeshū'' (, meaning ''Lotus Sect''), is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period school ...

. At the time, the temple was dedicated to the

Pure Land Pure Land is a Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist concept referring to a transcendent realm emanated by a buddhahood, buddha or bodhisattva which has been purified by their activity and Other power, sustaining power. Pure lands are said to be places ...

sect, prior to being a

Tendai , 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 ...

temple, then later changed into

Shingon is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asian Buddhism. It is a form of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism and is sometimes called "Tōmitsu" (東密 lit. "Esoteric uddhismof Tō- ...

, and now designated a

Nichiren Shu was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. His teachings form the basis of Nichiren Buddhism, a unique branch of Japanese Mahayana Buddhism based on the '' Lotus Sutra''. Nichiren declared that the '' Lotus Sutra'' ...

temple.

Location

Seichō-ji is located on Chiba Prefecture's second highest mountain, the 310-meter high Myōken-san. The temple grounds are within the borders of the

Minami Bōsō Quasi-National Park is a quasi-national park in the Kantō region of Honshū in Japan. It is rated a protected landscape (category V) according to the IUCN. The park includes numerous widely separated portions of the coastal areas of southern Bōsō Peninsula, rang ...

. Myōken-san is the source of two of the Bōsō Peninsula's important rivers, the

Yōrō River The is a river in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is in length and has a drainage area of . Under the Rivers Act of 1906 the Yōrō is designated as a Class 2 River. The Yōrō originates near Mount Kiyosumi on the border of Amatsukominato area of ...

and the Obitsu River. The translation of the temple's name, meaning "clear, serene" probably originated in these natural features—Water running under the numerous daimyō oaks in the area. The temple grounds contain the Great Kiyosumi

Cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

, a protected natural National Treasure, known as a "thousand year cypress." Additionally, due to its altitude and scenic location, it is known as a prime tourist destination to watch the rising of the sun.

History

Early history

The priest Fushigi visited the location in 771 AD to worship the Kokūzō Bosatsu, and the mountain became a spot for '' sangaku shinkō'', a form of ancient mountain worship. Priest

Ennin , better known in Japan by his posthumous name, Jikaku Daishi (), was a priest of the Tendai school of Buddhism in Japan, and its third . Ennin was instrumental in expanding the Tendai Order's influence, and bringing back crucial training and ...

visited in 836 and Seichō-ji became a temple of the

sect. The main hall was destroyed by fire caused by lightning in 1096, and was rebuilt by the

Provincial Governor Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

Minamoto Chikamoto. During the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

Hōjō Masako was a Japanese politician who exercised significant power in the early years of the Kamakura period, which was reflected by her contemporary sobriquet of the "nun shogun". She was the wife of Minamoto no Yoritomo, and mother of Minamoto no Yori ...

established a two-story

pagoda A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but some ...

and a library containing over 4,000

sūtra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...

s in 1219.

Association with Nichiren

Shortly after, under the priest Dōzen,

entered the temple as a student in 1233 at the age of 11. He was formally ordained at 16 and took the Buddhist name Zeshō-bō Renchō, then left in 1253 to study in

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

and elsewhere. Because of its history, the temple is a ''daihonzan'', or important religious center, of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism.

Later history

In 1618

Tokugawa Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was born to Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Lady Saigō on May ...

ordered that the temple convert to the Shingon sect to implement a government-sponsored Buddhist liturgy. In 1949 Seichō-ji was converted to a Nichiren temple.

Important structures and cultural treasures

* Central Gate, 1647 * Remains of Asahimori

sutra mound A is an archaeological site where sūtras were buried underground. In Japanese Buddhism, it is a type of good deed, and was done as a type of puja. Examples of sutra mounds include the Katsuragi 28 Shuku in the Kansai region of Japan. Descr ...

, 1276 * Stone treasure

, 1407 * Inscribed hōkyō “stone flag” pagoda, 1424 * Temple bell, 1392 * Standing bronze

Kannon Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

statue * Standing wooden Nyorai statue

External links

Nichiren Shū: Seichō-ji

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seicho-ji 8th-century Buddhist temples Buddhist temples in Chiba Prefecture Nichiren Nichiren-shū temples Kamogawa, Chiba Ākāśagarbha 8th-century establishments in Japan