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The Kokuchūkai (国柱会, "Pillar of the Nation Society") is a lay-oriented Nichiren Buddhist organisation. It was founded by Tanaka Chigaku in 1880 as Rengekai (蓮華会, "Lotus Blossom Society") and renamed Risshō Ankokukai (立正安国会) in 1884 before adopting its current name in 1914. Originally based in Yokohama, the group shifted its head office to Tokyo, Kyoto/Osaka, Kamakura and Miho, Shizuoka before finally moving back to Tokyo. The group is currently based in Ichinoe, Edogawa-ku.

Teachings

Among the group's principal teachings are to return to the teachings of the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, the 13th-century monk Nichiren and unite the various sects of Nichiren Buddhism. The group's teachings are characterized by a strong form of Nichirenism and the notion of Kokutai. The organisation is mentioned as an example of how Nichiren's teachings were interpreted in a nationalistic fashion, also referred to as Nichirenism, and is said to have influenced Nichiren Buddhist based new religions in terms of propagation.

The group's sacred text is the Lotus Sutra and their main object of reverence is the Sado Shigen Myō Mandara (佐渡始原妙曼荼羅, Japanese Misplaced Pages article), a mandala supposedly made by Nichiren on the island of Sado.

Membership

At its height in 1924, the group's membership was estimated at over 7,000.

The literary figures Chogyū Takayama and Kenji Miyazawa were members of the Kokuchūkai for a time. The group's official website continues to claim them, but are said to have ultimately rejected Tanaka's nationalistic views.

Publications

The group's publications include the monthly magazines Nichiren-shugi (日蓮主義, "Nichirenism") and Shin-sekai (真世界, "True World").

References

1. ^ Britannica Kokusai Dai-hyakkajiten article "Kokuchūkai". 2007. Britannica Japan Co.
2. Eiichi Ōtani, Ajia no Bukkyō-nashonarizumu no Hikaku-bunseki ("A Comparative Analysis of Buddhist Nationalism in Asia"). International Research Center for Japanese Studies. p 115
3. Jacqueline I. Stone, By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree: politics and the issue of the ordination platform in modern lay Nichiren Buddhism. In: Steven Heine; Charles S. Prebish (ed.); Buddhism in the Modern World, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0195146972, page 197
4. Montgomery, Daniel (1991). Fire in the Lotus, The Dynamic Religion of Nichiren, London: Mandala, ISBN 1852740914, page 217-218
5. ^ Jacqueline I. Stone, "By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree: politics and the issue of the ordination platform in modern lay Nichiren Buddhism". IN: Steven Heine; Charles S. Prebish (ed.) Buddhism in the Modern World. New York: Oxford University Press. 2003. ISBN 0195146972. pp 197-198.
6. Jacqueline I. Stone, By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree: politics and the issue of the ordination platform in modern lay Nichiren Buddhism. In: Steven Heine; Charles S. Prebish (ed.); Buddhism in the Modern World, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0195146972, page 201
7. Montgomery, Daniel (1991). Fire in the Lotus, The Dynamic Religion of Nichiren, London: Mandala, ISBN 1852740914, page 218
8. Jacqueline I. Stone, By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree: politics and the issue of the ordination platform in modern lay Nichiren Buddhism. In: Steven Heine; Charles S. Prebish (ed.); Buddhism in the Modern World, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0195146972, page 198
9. Catherine Wessinger, Millennialism, Persecution, and Violence: Historical Cases (Religion and Politics), 2000, Syracuse University Press, ISBN 978-0815605997, page 269
10. Jun'ichi Isomae, Religious Discourse in Modern Japan Religion, State, and Shint (Dynamics in the History of Religions), Brill Academic Pub, June 2014, ISBN 978-9004272613, Page 189
11. Steven M. Emmanuel, A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy), John Wiley & Sons, March 2013, ISBN 978-0470658772
12. Risshō Ankoku no jitsugen e on the Kokuchūkai's official website.
13. Keene, Donald (1999), A History of Japanese Literature: Volume 4: Dawn to the West &mdash Japanese Literature of the Modern Era (Poetry, Drama, Criticism), New York: Columbia University Press, p. 285, ISBN 978-0-2311-1439-4.
14. "Takayama Chogyū" on the Kokuchūkai's official website.
15. "Kenji Miyazawa" on the Kokuchūkai's official website.

External links

• Official website (Japanese)

• Religious organizations based in Japan
• Nichiren Buddhism
• Shinshukyo
• Buddhist new religious movements
• 1914 establishments in Japan
• Japanese nationalism