miko's blog: A 鬼

miko's blog: A 鬼

The real history of Nicherin Shu or Nicherin Sho-shu is as follows – in the Kamakura era of Japan’s history, in the 13th century A.D., Nicherin, a proponent of his own brand of esoteric/exoteric Mahayana Buddhism formulated his own sect of Hokke (“Lotus” teaching) Buddhism; since that time called Nicherin Shu or Nicherin Sho-shu. It was based loosely on the (called Tien-Tai or in Japanese Tendai) school of the Chinese monk Chih-i. This and other related schools of Buddhism were brought from Chang’an, China by Dengyo Daishi (Saicho) and Kobo Daishi (Kukai) in the 9th Century A.D. During Nicherin’s life he preached to a group of Samurai families who at that time were Yakusa. The priests and others of these families formed the core of this cult. By the time of the 16th century A.D. they had been deep into the Imperial politics of Japan under the shogunates for three centuries. By the end of the 16th century/beginning of the 17th century they had convinced the Shoguns (especially Tokugawa Ieyasu in about 1601 A.D.) that Christians were to be exterminated. Ieyasu undertook the remainder of this with the “Japanese Proscription”. Christians had been in Japan since the Heian Dynasty and the Nara era (8th century A.D.) and even before that, 6th/7th century A.D. . (I have personally been in Nara and seen the dwellings of the Christians of that time). Part of the martyrdoms instigated by Nicherin’s followers are recounted in the following:

THE MARYRS OF JAPAN (From Fr. Alban Butler’s Lives of the Saints) ABOUT forty years after St. Francis Xavier's death a persecution broke out in Japan, and all Christian rites were forbidden under pain of death. A confraternity of martyrs was at once formed, the object of which was to die for Christ. Even the little children joined it. Peter; a Christian child six years old, was awakened early and told that he was to be beheaded, together with his father. Strong in grace, he expressed his joy at the news, dressed himself in his gayest clothing, and took the hand of the soldier who was to lead him to death. The headless trunk of his father first met his view; calmly kneeling down, he prayed beside the corpse, and, loosening his collar, prepared his neck for the stroke. Moved by this touching scene, the executioner threw down his sabre and fled. None but a brutal slave could be found for the murderous task; with unskilled and trembling hand he hacked the child to pieces, who at last died without uttering a single cry. Christians were branded with the cross, or all but buried alive, while the head and arms were slowly sawn oft with blunt weapons. The least shudder under their anguish was interpreted into apostasy. The obstinate were put to the most cruel deaths, but the survivors only envied them. Five noblemen were escorted to the stake by 40,000 Christians with flowers and lights, singing the litanies of Our Lady as they went. In the great martyrdom, at which thousands also assisted, the martyrs sent up a flood of melody from the fire, which only died away as one after another went to sing the new song in heaven. Later on, a more awful doom was invented. The victims were lowered into a sulphurous chasm, called the "mouth of hell," near which no bird or beast could live. The chief of these, Paul Wiborg, whose family had been already massacred for the faith, was thrice let down; thrice he cried, with a loud voice, "Eternal praise be to the ever-adorable Sacrament of the Altar." The third time he went to his reward.

After these martyrdoms recounted by Fr. Butler, about forty plus years later, under Ieyasu's Proscription, the Tokugawa shogunate martyred another thirty thousand plus Christians. The Nicherin Buddhists built the “Five Storied Pagoda” at their head temple Taisekiji to comemorate their successful murdering of Japan’s Christians and said that the pagoda symbolized that their Buddhism would conquer the West and destroy the Christian faith and all other religions and Japan would rule the world.

After this, the Proscription held until 1868, when Admiral Perry reopened Japan, and Christians were again allowed to preach and worship the true God there.

The last part of the 19th Century A.D., in Japan, saw the Meiji restoration, which albeit short lived, saw a revival of cultic pagan worship of the Emperor. The 1890’s were the Edo period and saw the building and ascension of modern day Tokyo. The shogunate warlords took over again in the 20th century and that saw the rise of anti-western Imperialism.

After World War II, in which Japan was drawn in on the part of Nazi Germany just 9 months before Pearl Harbor, many cults arose in Japan.

Only the Christian belief is true, Christians have been in Japan since the very early centuries of Japan. Christians were always good neighbors to everyone there.