On 12th May 1233, when he was twelve years old Zennichi Maro went to Seicho-ji Temple on Mt. Kiyosumi, to become a student at the temple. The temple was at the time a temple of the Tendai School whose patriarch was Dozen-bo, who agreed to take Zennichi Maro on as a lay novice. The boy studied the fundamentals of Buddhism and Confucianism. The young boy was gifted and intelligent, and he studied hard to find answers to the questions he had. In Japan at that time there were many different schools of Buddhism, all of which claimed to teach the correct Sutra (teaching of the Buddha). The young boy resolved to continue his studies until he found the answer as to what the correct teaching was, and on 8th October, 1237, when he was sixteen years old, he became an ordained priest. He was given the name Zesho-bo Rencho, or 'Lotus Eternal'.

Today, Nichiren Shu Shami (Trainee Ministers) travel to Seicho-ji for the Docho ceremony, to take their vows at the same place that Nichiren Shonin did. The Docho ceremony (presentation of certificate of priesthood) is performed in January, April, July and October, and acts as the first passageway to becoming a minister of Nichiren Shu.

Above and below: Seicho-ji's Daido (Main Hall)

Below: The modern Soshido building at Seicho-ji

Nichiren Shonin pleaded to Kokuzo Bosatsu “to become the wisest man in Japan” before the Gohozen (main altar) in the Daido (main hall). (Above and Below)

Below: Nichiren Shonin's master, Dozen Bo's grave stands on the temple grounds (in the centre at the top of the steps). Upon hearing of his late master's death, Nichiren Shonin wrote his 'Essay on Gratitude' (Hoon-jo), and had one of his disciples read it in front of Master Dozen's grave, and chant chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra. His Essay on Gratitude talks about the debts of gratitude one owes to their parents, the sovereign of their country and also their master and all living beings.

Below: Dinner at Seicho-ji.

Below: Seicho-ji Complex

Having studied hard, Rencho had exhausted the materials available to him at Seicho-ji, and so in 1238, at age seventeen, he left the temple to study at other major temples and learning centres throughout Japan.

Fifteen years after Rencho left Mt. Kiyosumi to further his studies, he returned to report his findings. On the morning of 28th April, 1253, when he was thirty two, Rencho stood on a high peak called Asahigamori facing the rising sun over the Pacific Ocean and chanted Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, proclaiming his belief that the Lotus Sutra (Myoho Renge Kyo) is the teaching for people of the age of Mappo that would lead them to Buddhahood.

Below: A statue of Nichiren Shonin on Asahigamori.

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