Konponji, Sado Island

The founder of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism was exiled to Sado in 1271 when his "Rissho Ankokuron" (Treatise on Securing the Peace of the Land by the Establishment of the Correct Dharma) provoked the wrath of the Kamakura Shogunate. Nichiren described his own point of view in his "Kaimokusho (On Opening Your Eyes) " which he wrote in the Sanmai Hall of the Konponji Temple in Tsukahara. After moving to the Ichitani Monastery (Myoshoji Temple) he composed the Jukai Mandala or Mandala of the Ten Buddhist Realms in which he expressed the philosophy of the Lotus Sutra. The culmination of Nichiren's thought and philosophy is found in the "Kanshinhonzonsho," meaning "Treatise on the Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind." It is said that he was able to produce these works thanks to the external protection of the priest Abutsubo and his wife, Sennichini (Myosenji Temple) and the priest Kokufu and his wife, Zennichiama (Sesonji Temple) . Nichiren spent two years and five months on Sado before being pardoned in 1274, and returning to Kamakura. From Honkoji Temple in Matsugasaki where Nichiren landed to the sacred sites in Shibute, Maura and other areas from which he set sail when he left, Sado abounds with histories, ruins and legends connected with Nichiren.

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• nichiren shu
• nichiren sect
• nichiren buddhism
• sado
• gohonzon