Ozu Tetsunen

A Jodo Shinshu Honganji sect monk from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji era. Born in Kakuho-ji Temple, Oshima County, Suo Province (present-day Suo-Oshima Town, Yamaguchi Prefecture). Sympathizing with the monk Gessho's theory of protecting the nation through Buddhism, he organized a group of monks and led them in fighting against the Shogunate forces during the Bakufu-Choshu War. After the Meiji Restoration, he worked with fellow townsman Shimaji Mokurai and others to reform the Nishi Honganji sect, while at the same time opposing the policy of separating Shinto and Buddhism and working hard to establish the Temple Bureau and the Ministry of Religion, representing the Buddhist world in negotiations with the new government. He was also active in spreading Jodo Shinshu in Kagoshima, where the policy of banning it was in place during the Edo period, and in overseas missionary work.

[Knowing Kodama]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

幕末から明治期の浄土真宗本願寺派の僧。周防国(すおうのくに)大島郡覚法(かくほう)寺（現、山口県周防大島町）の生れ。僧月性(げっしょう)の仏法護国論に共鳴し、幕長戦争の際は僧侶隊を組織して陣頭指揮をとり幕府軍と戦った。明治維新後、同郷の島地黙雷(しまじもくらい)らと西本願寺の教団改革に取り組むと同時に、神仏分離政策に反対して寺院寮や教部省の設立に尽力するなど、仏教界を代表して新政府との折衝にあたった。江戸時代に浄土真宗禁止政策がとられていた鹿児島での開教や海外布教でも活躍した。

［児玉　識］

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