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Nichiren: Surviving Two Exiles, Founder of Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren (1222-1282) preached an absolute devotion to the Lotus Sutra and harshly criticized the Kamakura shogunate's religious policies. After submitting his Rissho Ankoku-ron in 1260, he was exiled twice — to Izu in 1261 and to Sado in 1271, after the miraculous "Tatsunokuchi Persecution." His prediction of foreign invasion was confirmed by the 1274 Mongol Invasion.
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Taketoki
| Samurai History
Nichiren (1222-1282) founded the Nichiren school of Buddhism with absolute devotion to the Lotus Sutra. His Rissho Ankoku-ron (1260) submitted to the Kamakura regent Hojo Tokiyori predicted civil war and foreign invasion if the government did not abandon Pure Land teachings. He was exiled to Izu in 1261, recalled in 1263, then sentenced to death in 1271 — but the executioner’s sword failed at the Tatsunokuchi Persecution, and the sentence was commuted to exile on Sado Island. There he wrote his foundational works Kaimokusho and Kanjin Honzonsho. Pardoned in 1274, his prediction of foreign invasion was confirmed by the Mongol invasion that very year. He retired to Kuonji on Mt. Minobu and died at age 61 at Ikegami Honmonji.
Last updated: May 2, 2026
Portrait of Nichiren — survivor of two exiles
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Kuonji at Mt. Minobu — head temple of Nichiren-shu
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Ryukoji in Fujisawa — site of the Tatsunokuchi miracle
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Ikegami Honmonji — where Nichiren died at 61
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Mongol invasion 1274 — confirming Nichiren's prophecy
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
── 了 ──
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Author
Taketoki（たけとき）
Samurai History
Toku editorial team — samurai history. Insists on primary sources and castle-layout diagrams, walking battlefields from Yoritomo's Izu exile sites to the late-Edo battlegrounds.
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History truly comes alive when you visit in person. Choose your next destination from the related sites and pilgrimage courses below.
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The head temple of Nichiren Buddhism where Nichiren spent his final nine years, famous for its 287-step stone stairway and 400-year-old weeping cherry trees
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The sacred site where Nichiren died in 1282 — the oldest five-story pagoda in Tokyo (1608, National ICP) and the October Oeshiki lantern procession drawing 300,000 make this Nichiren's holiest sanctuary
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A Nichiren head temple on the sacred ground of the 1271 Tatsunokuchi Persecution, home to Kanagawa's only wooden five-story pagoda
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