Aizen Fudo Kankenki (by Nichiren)

Two Wisdom Kings Drawn by Nichiren

The Aizen Fudo Kankenki (by Nichiren), in Japanese 愛染不動感見記〈日蓮筆〉 (Aizen Fudō Kankenki), is a pair of documents written by the Buddhist reformer Nichiren in 1254 and kept at Myohonji Temple in Yoshihama, Kyonan Town, Chiba Prefecture; it was designated an Important Cultural Property on 25 April 1968. The title means roughly "records of visions of Aizen and Fudo": according to Chiba Prefecture, Nichiren drew the two wisdom kings as he had perceived them and gave the sheets to a disciple.

One sheet, the Aizen Kankenki, measures 31 cm by 50 cm; the other, the Fudo Kankenki, 31.3 cm by 50 cm. Each has the deity at the centre of a horizontal sheet, with lines of text on either side. Together they were designated an Important Cultural Property in 1968.

What the Inscriptions Say

On the right of the Aizen sheet, Nichiren records that he saw Aizen Myoo in living form during a solar eclipse on the first day of the first month. On the right of the Fudo sheet, he writes that he saw Fudo Myoo in living form from the fifteenth to the seventeenth day.

On the left of both sheets he traces an unbroken line of transmission through 23 generations, from the cosmic Buddha Dainichi to himself, and dates the gift to the 25th day of the sixth month of 1254. Chiba Prefecture reads the recipient's name as Shinbutsu; the Agency for Cultural Affairs database writes it with different characters.

The year 1254 fell just after Nichiren publicly proclaimed his new teaching, and Chiba Prefecture values the Aizen Fudo Kankenki as rare handwriting from his prime. Because it hands down images of esoteric deities in the manner of a secret transmission, scholars have studied it for what it says about Nichiren's relationship to esoteric Buddhism.

Myohonji and Its Treasures

Myohonji was founded by Nichigo, a second-generation disciple of Nichiren; Chiba Prefecture dates its founding to the Koei era, between 1342 and 1345.

The temple stands at Yoshihama in Kyonan, on the south-western Boso Peninsula facing Tokyo Bay. Its large body of doctrinal texts and documents is also designated by Chiba Prefecture, and the Aizen Fudo Kankenki has been handed down alongside them.

Visiting

The Aizen Fudo Kankenki is a temple treasure and is not on regular display. Kyonan Town's walking map of the Hota area says that Myohonji's treasures are shown when they are aired in October, but whether these two sheets are brought out every year has not been confirmed. The same map notes that viewing carvings and other works at temples and shrines requires permission; enquiries go to the Kyonan Town Board of Education (tel. 0470-55-2120).

Myohonji is at 453-1 Yoshihama, Kyonan, and the nearest station is Hota on the JR Uchibo Line. Follow the temple's instructions on photography during any viewing.