Longevity - Nichiji

Japanese: 日持 - にちじ

Years of birth: unknown. A Nichiren sect monk from the late Kamakura period. A famous figure shrouded in mystery, said to have travelled to the northern regions to preach overseas. One of Nichiren's Six Elder Monks, he was known as Kai-no-Kami and Renge Ajari. He is said to have been from Matsuno in Suruga Province (Shizuoka Prefecture). He studied at the Forty-Nine Tendai Temples in Kambara, the same province, and was apprenticed to Nichiren's disciple at the same temple, Nikko. Nichimochi took Jibubou of the same temple and Daifubou from his hometown of Matsuno as his disciples. In 1278, he was expelled from the temple together with Nikko, and thereafter travelled back and forth between Matsuno and Minobu, where his master Nichiren was. When the principal disciples (Six Elder Monks) were designated in 1279, Nichimochi became one of them, and served as a rotational attendant at the Minobu mausoleum. However, he came into conflict with his first teacher, Nikko, and in 1288, the seventh anniversary of Nichiren's death, he and Nichijo became sponsors of the placement of a statue of Nichiren at Ikegami Honmonji Temple in Musashi Province (Tokyo), after which he went missing. Various "Nichimochi-den" stories were created in the Muromachi period and after regarding this disappearance. During the Muromachi period, Nichijin explored Ezo in memory of Nichimochi, and during the Edo period, Nichicho vividly depicted the rich legend of Nichimochi, marking the creation of the "Nichimochi-den." In line with the Siberian expedition during the Taisho period, the story of Nichimochi's bold departure overseas was publicized. It is believed that the "Nichimochi-den" contains elements that overlap with "Yoshitsune of the Buddhist sect." <References> Sasaki Kaoru, "Historical Considerations of the Nichimochi-den" (Sea of Japan Regional History Research, No. 7)

(Kaoru Sasaki)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

生年：生没年不詳
鎌倉後期の日蓮宗の僧。海外布教するために北方地域に向かったとされる謎の多いことで有名な人物。日蓮の六老僧のひとりで,甲斐公,蓮華阿闍梨と号す。駿河国(静岡県)松野の出身という。同国蒲原の天台寺院四十九院で学び,同院の日蓮の弟子,日興に師事。日持は同院の治部房と故郷松野の大夫房を弟子とした。弘安1(1278)年日興と共に同院を追われ,以後松野と師日蓮のいる身延を往還した。同5年の本弟子(六老僧)指定の際,日持もそのひとりとなり,身延の廟所輪番を勤仕。しかし初めの師日興と反目するにおよび,日蓮七年忌に当たる正応1(1288)年,日浄と共に願主となって武蔵国池上本門寺(東京)に日蓮影像を安置し,その後,行方不明となる。この不明をめぐり室町時代以後さまざまな「日持伝」が作成された。室町時代の日尋は日持を追慕して蝦夷地を踏査し,江戸時代の日潮は豊かな日持伝説を活写し,「日持伝」の成立を画した。大正期のシベリア出兵に合わせて海外に雄飛する日持伝が喧伝された。「日持伝」には「宗門の義経」と重なる要素が潜んでいると思われる。<参考文献>佐々木馨「日持伝の史的考察」(『日本海地域史研究』7号)

(佐々木馨)

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