Nichiren, Soka Gakkai and Komeito - Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan - page 43

Few Nichiren priests seemed to have followed Nichiren in this regard. The
typical tendency in religion of political rupture, splintering and sectarianism
also characterised the Nichiren sects, which makes these developments di -

cult to untangle or prove one way or another as to what may be considered
the rightful Nichiren School. In principle, the Nichiren School has referred to
any sect that regards Nichiren as its founder, but more speci

cally the school
of which the head temple is Kuon-ji in Minobu of Yamanashi Prefecture, a
Nichiren sect that follows Nik - s senior

disciple-priests came to be seen as representing orthodox Nichiren Buddhism.
The major Nichiren schools that exist today can trace their origins back to
one of the six senior priests whom Nichiren designated as his successors.
Nikk -

(1253 - 1314), one of six of Nichiren '

1333) is another of these six priests and the person Soka Gakkai
follows in line with Nichiren Sh - sh - . Nikk - left Minobu in 1289 with his
disciples due to a dispute that arose between Nikk - and Nik - . When Nikk -
left, Nik - became the head of Kuon-ji with the support of Hakiri Sanenaga,
the steward of the area. Nikk - went to Shizuoka Prefecture and established
the temple Taiseki-ji at the foot of Mount Fuji. During the Edo period (1603

(1246 -

-
1868) the Minobu sect enjoyed the support of the Tokugawa shogunate and
extended its in

uence. Prior to World War II many smaller Nichiren schools
merged with the Minobu School as part of the government ort to control

Buddhism and gain support from religious groups in its promotion of war.
Among the temples derived from Nikk - and his disciples, seven major temples
including Kitayama Honmon-ji, the original Omosu Seminary established by
Nikk - , in 1941 became a

' se

liated with Kuon-ji temple on Mount Minobu
(rather than Taiseki-ji) by the order of the militarist government. Nichiren
Sh - sh - also later joined in the support of the military government. This was
the cause of a great rift between the priesthood and Soka Ky - iku Gakkai (the
forerunner to Soka Gakkai), which had emerged as a group of lay followers
in 1928 (discussed below).
Nichiren Sh - sh - , previously referred to as the Nikk - or Fuji branch,

means the , a name adopted in 1912. This sect,

contrary to the other Nichiren sects which see him as a bodhisattva, regards
Nichiren as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. 7 Nichiren Sh - sh -
promulgate that Nichiren transferred his body of teachings to Nikk - , seeing
him as the rightful successor because he placed Nichiren in this role in the
Buddhist lineage, something for which the other schools claim heresy as they
see Shakyamuni as the Buddha and Nichiren as a bodhisattva. Furthermore,
according to Nichiren Sh - sh - , Nichiren

' Nichiren Correct School '

is honzon is the only object of wor-
ship. They claim, moreover, that Nichiren inscribed a dai-gohonzon, carved in
wood, something that represented the epitome of Nichiren

'

s honzons, and
inscribed for the sake of humanity on 12 October 1279. 8 The arguments
about what is the core practice of Nichiren Buddhism, what is his main object
of worship, and what is his role in the Buddhist lineage have served to either
legitimate the Fuji School or the other Nichiren sects. The debate over the
dai-gohonzon still goes on primarily between the Minobu sect and the Fuji

'