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Nichiren

Nichiren

1222 CE–1282 CE · Kominato, Awa

1222–1282 CE

Nichiren (1222–1282 CE) founded the tradition that bears his name, centered on exclusive devotion to the Lotus Sūtra. Born in the fishing village of Kominato in Awa province (modern Chiba) and trained in the Tendai world, he came to hold that the Lotus Sūtra alone carries the saving teaching for the present age and that its essence is invoked by chanting its title (the daimoku). His sharp denunciation of rival schools and his warnings of national calamity brought him repeated persecution and exile. He is well documented, including by a substantial body of his own letters.

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Did you know?

  • The monk and the Mongol invasions

    The Japanese teacher Nichiren (1222-1282) lived through both Mongol invasions of Japan, in 1274 and 1281, launched by Kublai Khan (1215-1294), a grandson of Genghis Khan. Nichiren died in 1282, the year after the second fleet was scattered.

    How we know

    Nichiren 1222-1282; Mongol invasions of Japan 1274 and 1281; Kublai Khan 1215-1294 (grandson of Genghis Khan).

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Kominato, Awa

What they did here

Birthplace of Nichiren.

About Kominato, Awa

Kominato, in the old province of Awa (now part of Chiba Prefecture, Japan), was a coastal fishing community and the birthplace, in 1222, of Nichiren, founder of the Nichiren school of Japanese Buddhism, who taught the supremacy of the Lotus Sūtra.

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The world in their lifetime

Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Nichiren’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.

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