IPPEN

The Japanese Buddhist “Sage Who Abandoned All”

IPPEN
The Japanese Buddhist“Sage Who Abandoned All”

Keiko Soda
Professor Dr., Department of History and Culture,
Showa Women’s University

Translated by Sarah J. Horton

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 266002.

This book was originally published in 2013 by Tokyodo Shuppan, under the title
Ippen sono sisou to shogai.
©Keiko Soda 2015
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective
licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of
BookWay.
First English edition 2015.
The photographs on the cover and page 8 and those of the Ippen Hijirie picture scrolls have been
reproduced by courtesy of photographer Masayoshi Yoshie and the owner of the scrolls Shōjōkōji temple(Yugyōji temple). Other photographs are the author’s own. All rights of reproduction and republication
are reserved.
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ISBN978-4-86584-027-8 C0015 13000E

Contents

Introduction to the English edition

1

Introduction

3

Chapter 1: Ippen’s Life, Part 1

23

Section 1 Ippen’s Roots

241) The Kōno Family

242) The Kōno Family and the Jōkyū Uprising

273) Birth

29

Section 2 Renouncing the World

331) Studying under Shōdatsu of Dazaifu

332) Studying under Kedai of Shimizu

373) The Second Renunciation

40

Section 3 Austerities and the Path to a Mind at Peace

441) Zenkōji Temple

442) The Nonduality of Ten and One

53

Chapter 2: Ippen’s Life, Part 2
Section 1 Ippen’s Thoughts Regarding Religious Activities

67
681) Fuda Distribution

682) Residence at Kumano

843) Certain Birth in the Pure Land for 600,000 People

98

Section 2 Yugyō and the Dancing (Odori) Nembutsu

1101) What is Yugyō?

1102) Yugyō Travels Around the Country

1143) The Odori Nembutsu

1244) The Yūzū Nembutsu

1445) Worshipping the Kami

1486) The Deathbed—The Name and Auspicious Omens

152

Chapter 3: Ippen’s Thought

171

Section 1 Pure Land Thought in Japan

172

Section 2 The Origins of Ippen’s Ideas

187

Section 3 The Evolution of Ippen’s Ideas

198

Section 4 Synthesis

211

A Chronology of Ippen’s Life

217

Ippen’s Wandering Places

221

Conclusion

223

Bibliography

227

Introduction to the English edition

Around 1973, I was a graduate student at the University of Calcutta inIndia. My advisor, Professor Shukomal Chaudhuri, often said it was a great
shame that although there was nothing that could compare to the researchof Japanese scholars on Buddhism, most of it was not known to scholars in
the rest of the world because it was written in the Japanese language. I neverforgot these words.
The Japanese edition of this book was published in 2013. In the history of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, Ippen is not as widely known aroundthe world as Hōnen and Shinran. There are various reasons for this, but wecannot overlook the fact that Ippen’s life and thought exerted enormous influence on Japanese culture and society. Until the flow of the tradition from
Hōnen to Shinran to Ippen is completely understood, Japanese Pure Landteachings will not be fully appreciated.
We could say that Japanese Pure Land teachings completely took holdin Japan through the merging that Ippen preached of Buddhism with Japanese ideas of nature. Ippen’s Buddhist thought changed with the four seasons, incorporating Japan’s always fertile natural world, and his ideas were
integrated into Japanese culture and accepted by the populace. I decided
that I wanted to make at least part of Ippen’s Buddhist thought known to theworld.
1
Introduction to the English edition

Professor Fuji Yoshinari of Ryūkoku University kindly helped me
fulfill this dream. Through him I was introduced to Professor Sarah Horton,
who has conducted research in Japan and received a Ph.D. from Yale University. She has completed a careful and accurate translation. If I had not had
the good fortune to meet Professors Fuji and Horton, I would not possibly
have been able to complete this project. I thank them from the bottom of myheart. In addition, this work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Publicationof Scientific Research Results of JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 266002.
Regarding the publication of the book, I asked many things of Mr. Yukawa Shōshirō and Mr. Fukuhara Akira of BookWay Global, and they kindly
heeded my requests. I wish to offer them my heartfelt gratitude. Without theencouragement and cooperation of a number of people, including my family
members, I would not have been successful in completing this project. If thisbook serves to help people get to know Japan even a little better, I will be delighted.
Keiko Soda
November 30, 2015

2
Introduction to the English edition

Introduction

The Jishū (Ji school) is a school of Buddhist thought, begun by Ippen, which
was prominent from the late Kamakura period to the Nanbokuchō period.
This marked the last major development in Japanese Pure Land teachings.
The exclusive nembutsu promoted by Hōnen had already produced many
Pure Land believers, but Ippen further developed the ideas of Hōnen’s
top disciple Shōkū to form a unique understanding of the name of Amida
Buddha. Some believe that by combining the distribution of amulets thatwere slips of paper (fuda) with the odori (dancing) nembutsu, Ippen raised
Japanese Pure Land teachings to a new level. With Ippen, Pure Land
Buddhism penetrated the deepest layers of Japanese thought. Because
he combined Buddhist ideas with the unique Japanese kami, Buddhism
penetrated deeply to the common people who were at the lowest levels ofsociety. Buddhism formed the foundation of the livelihood of the Japanesepeople and became a way of life for them, thus coming to be established inJapan.
Ippen reached the realm of awakening at Kumano’s Shōjōden hall.
After that, he never again resided in one location. As if he were Śākyamuni
come again, he wandered the entire country preaching the Dharma. Wherever he went, he distributed fuda and performed the odori nembutsu. He prom3
Introductionised the populace that they would go to the Pure Land, and he responded tothe suffering of those living in a time of political and societal instability. In
this era when religion still had an active function in the everyday life of thecommoners, people gathered together and achieved peace of mind by accepting fuda and performing the odori nembutsu.
However, currently Ippen is not as well-known a Pure Land figure as
Hōnen and Shinran. In the history of Japanese Pure Land teachings, he is in
the lineage of Hōnen and Shinran, so it would be appropriate for Ippen to be
granted equal importance, but this has not happened.
One reason for this is that there are few extant historical documents
concerning Ippen, so it is difficult for scholars to conduct research on him,
and there have not been many opportunities for his name to become known.
Moreover, as he said, he “abandoned all,” and he is known in the world as
the “hijiri (wandering sage) who abandoned all.” He was not attached tothe idea of leaving behind either a religious organization or his writings
for later generations. On his deathbed, he disposed of all the writings hepossessed by burning them with his own hands. Saying “I have exhausted
the teachings of a lifetime; there is only Namu Amida Butsu,” and, “Myteachings are only for this life,” he died. In this straightforward manner, he
expressed his understanding that it was an impediment to awakening to haveany desire for fame after death. Apparently he had no thought of forminga religious organization or of handing down his own nembutsu teachings
to later generations. If founders of religious sects lack this intention, thenthese organizations cannot develop and continue, and it will be impossible totransmit their teachings to the populace. However, Ippen’s achievements inJapanese religious history cannot be overlooked.
Several years ago, I traveled to Kumano. At that time, I sensed that thetrees on the mountains of Kumano were reverberating with energy. On the oc
casion of Ippen’s awakening, he attained faith in the nembutsu at the Shōjōden hall of Kumano’s Hongū shrine in the mountains of the Kii Peninsula. Ku
mano provides an extreme example of the heat and humidity that is character
istic of the natural world in Japan. In a sense, the Kumano area is the root ofJapanese culture. High heat and humidity are gifts from nature that result in
fertile agriculture, and they are also the origin of the divine blessing of water.
4
Introduction

Being raised in the midst of this kind of nature is at the heart of the faith ofthe common people in Japan. They discovered the gods (kami) in the midstof this nature. Through the kami Kumano Gongen, who since ancient times
had gained the faith of the populace, Ippen was made to understand the profo
und meaning of the original vow of other-power, and he hoped to unify Kum
ano Gongen with Amida Buddha. This means that what took place at the Shōjōden hall was a divine revelation that was necessary for Pure Land teachin
gs to ultimately take root in Japan. In this way, Pure Land Buddhism was completely accepted in this country.
Ippen brilliantly combined the kami, who arose from the natural features of heat and humidity in East Asia, with Amida Buddha. Here for the fi
rst time the natural world that forms the foundation of Japanese culture washarmonized with the religious life of the populace, and Buddhism was madecompletely Japanese. Understanding that through Ippen’s life and thought,
Buddhism and the kami of Japan were united, is related to valuing, at last,
the harmonization of human life with the natural world.
The problem we are embracing now is this: how can the naked desiresof humans be harmonized with nature, and how can a sustainable global
environment be maintained? This is an urgent topic for those of us who livein the world of the twenty-first century. Therefore, even now, learning about
Ippen’s life and thought is profoundly meaningful.

5
Introduction

In the history of Japanese Buddhism, as time
passed, the idea of an exclusive practice that had
been advocated by Hōnen gradually evolved in
new ways, due to the continuing emergence of important Buddhist figures. Among these, Ippen, who
was active in the late Kamakura period, developed
the ideas of Hōnen’s leading disciple Shōkū into a
unique understanding of the spoken name (myōgō
名号 ). By combining the distribution of fuda withdance, Ippen elevated Pure Land teachings to newheights. I will discuss Ippen’s life and his religious
ideas, relating it to both politics and Buddhist history, based on the Ippen hijirie and the Ippen Shōninekotobaden, which are foundational texts for the
study of Ippen.

6
Introduction

1 The statue of Ippen

8
Introduction

2 Hōgonji Temple (Ippen’s birth place)
9
Introduction

4 kakebotoke

3 hanging scroll of namuamidabutsu
10
Introduction

5 goō fuda

6 Kubono Hermitage
11
Introduction

7 Ippen hijirie Kotobagaki(Ippen hijirie5)
12
Introduction

8 Fusan distribution (Ippen hijirie7-2)
13Introduction

14
Introduction

9 Kumano Hongū Shrine
15Introduction

10 Dancing Nembutsu (Ippen hijirie7-3)
16Introduction

11 Yugyōji Temple

12 The Map of Yugyōji Temple
17
Introduction

13 Ippen’s Grave18
Introduction

14 Dancing Nembutsu in Odagiri (Ippen hijirie4-5)
19Introduction

20
Introduction

15 Iwayaji (Ippen hijirie2-1)
21
Introduction

16 Deathbed of Ippen (Ippen hijirie12-3)
22
Introduction

Chapter 1

Ippen’s Life, Part 1

Section 1 Ippen’s Roots

24

Section 2 Renouncing the World

33

Section 3 Austerities and the Path to a Mind at Peace

44

Section 1

Ippen’s Roots

1) The Kōno Family
The beginning of the Ippen hijirie records Ippen’s origins, saying,
The hijiri Ippen was the grandchild of Kōno Shirō Michinobu of theOchi clan. He was the child of the person with the secular name Shichirō Michihiro, who became a renunciant and took the name Nyobutsu. He was born in the first year of the En’ō era, tsuchi no toi (1239), in
Iyo province.
The genealogy of the Kōno family (photo 1-1) is recorded in detail in the
Kōno keizu 河野系図 , the Ochi keizu 越智系図 , the Yoshōki 予章記 , andother works. Here, I will summarize his lineage by relying on the Ochi keizu
contained in the Zoku gunsho ruijū, and I will provide additional explanations of important figures who merit further discussion.
According to the Ochi keizu, the first head of this clan was Prince Iyo.
Prince Iyo was the third son of Emperor Kōrei, who was the seventh emperorof Japan. Prince Iyo was given the title Hiko Sashima no Mikoto. He suppressed uprisings in the southwest, built his imperial residence in the Kanzaki
24
Ippen’s Life, Part 1

Ochi keizu 越智系図
(The names in bold are those of figures the author will later discuss. Numbered names indicate the head of
the family. The number itself is the number of generations descended from the founder of the clan, Prince
Iyo 伊予王子 . )…

㉔

Masuo 益男㉕㉙

Okikata 息方

Masakatsu 真勝㉖㉚

Yoshikata 好方

㉛

㉞

㉟

㉝

Yasuzumi 安躬㊲

Tameyo 為世㊶

Chikataka 親孝㊺

Michinobu 通信

Motooki 元興㊳

Tametoki 為時㊷㉗

Fukasumi 深躬Okimura 息村Yasukuni 安国㊱

Motoie 元家

Ietoki 家時

Tokitaka 時孝㊸

Chikatsune 親経㊵

Chikakiyo 親清Tametsuna 為綱㊹

Michikiyo 通清Michitoshi 通俊

Michihide 通秀

Michimasa 通政

Masauji 政氏

Michimatsu 通末Michiyuki 通行㊻

Okitoshi 息利㉜

Yoshimine 好峯㊴㉘

Michihisa 通久

girl 女Michihiro 通広Michitomo 通朝

Michimune 通宗

Chishinbō 智真坊 (Ippen 一遍 )Izubō 伊豆坊Michisada 通定 (Shōkai 聖戒 )25
Ippen’s Rootsregion of the district of Iyo, and was called Prince Iyo. The eldest of the threesons of Emperor Kōrei, named Ōya, moved to Mishima in Izu. The next son,
named Miyake, moved to Kojima in Bizen. The third son, named Ochi 小千 ,moved to Wakejima in Izu. The Ochi keizu explains, in the section on Minami of the sixth generation, the circumstances under which, at the time of thenaval battle with Silla, a lacquered wooden tray with the Chinese characterfor the number three ( 三 ) was reflected on the surface of the water, and how
this became the crest of the Kōno family.
The figure named Masumi, the sixteenth head of the clan, was a renowned practitioner of the martial arts, and at the time of Empress Suiko,when the Chinese invaded Akashi harbor in Harima province, he followed
imperial command and drove them away. Because this was due to the divine
protection of the kami Mishima Daimyōjin, this kami was invited to resideto the west of Ōkuradani in Harima province. The Ochi keizu records that
because of his distinguished service in battle, Masumi was made governorof Iyo province. After that, Morioki, the twenty-first head of the clan, invaded Silla, following the command of Emperor Tenji. He spent three years
in northern Japan, fathering a child named Tamaoki with a prostitute whileliving there. During Tamaoki’s life, the characters 小千 for the family name
Ochi were changed to the characters 越智 . Moreover, the Ochi keizu statesthat Tamasumi, twenty-second head of the clan, lived in the foothills of
Takanawa in the district of Kazahaya and changed the family name to Kōno.
For over ten generations after that, the Kōno family flourished in thisarea as a powerful clan. Tameyo, the thirty-seventh head of the clan, wascalled “Lord of Ukena.” Because both Tametoki, the thirty-eighth headof the clan, and Tokitaka, the thirty-ninth head, called themselves “Ukena,” which was the name of a geographical area, it is thought that at
this time control of the entire mountainous district of Ukena came into
the hands of the Kōno clan. Moreover, it was at the time of Chikatsune,
the forty-second head, that the Kōno family began to build a relationship with the Minamoto family. The Ochi keizu records the following:

26
Ippen’s Life, Part 1

When he entered the way in Iyo, Yoriyoshi was serving as governor ofthat province. At that time, he had the same motivations as Chikanori,
and built Yakushi temple halls in forty-nine locations, and Hachiman
shrines in eight locations.
Minamoto no Yoriyoshi was at that time the governor of Iyo. Chikanori,
the forty-second head, who with Yoriyoshi founded numerous temples andshrines, did not have a son to succeed him. Therefore, he took Yoriyoshi’s
youngest son as his son-in-law. This son-in-law was Chikakiyo, the Kōno
family’s forty-third head. The Ochi keizu states that Chikanori took this opportunity to make the Kōno clan part of Minamoto clan. In the section on
Michikiyo, the forty-fourth head, the Ochi keizu explains that after Chikakiyo, who was sent by the Kōno clan’s guardian kami Mishima Myōjin, thenames of the sons of the Kōno clan all began with the character “michi” 通 .
Until this time, no ancestor had direct influence on Ippen’s life. Next, however, I will discuss Ippen’s grandfather, Michinobu, the forty-fifth head of theclan.

2) The Kōno Family and the Jōkyū Uprising
Regarding Ippen’s grandfather Michinobu, the Ippen hijirie states:
When he arrived at the village of Esashi in the north, he visited thegrave of his grandfather Michinobu. No people lived there, and there
were no houses there. All that remained were the traces of the smokeof the cremation in the autumn wind in the willow. The rain at dusk on
the green mound rivaled the dewy tears. He removed the brambles andconducted the filial rites of gratitude, circumambulated the grave, andaccumulated the merit of reciting sutras and the nembutsu (Ippen hijirie, fascicle 5).
Next, I will briefly outline the political situation at that time.

27
Ippen’s RootsIn Jishō 4 (1180), Minamoto no Yoritomo, who had been banished to Hirugakojima in Izu province, relied on the influence of his wife Masako’s father
Hōjō Tokimasa to gradually strengthen his own power. Kōno Michikiyo, thelord of Takanawa castle, taking advantage of the fact that his grandfather
Chikatune was a Minamoto, fought the Taira forces at Iyo. His eldest son
Michinobu was fighting the Taira clan in Kyūshū. After that, Michikiyo diedin battle, but Michinobu became lord of Takanawa castle, and as commanderof the Kōno navy, he gained power over the Inland Sea.
As this text indicates, because Michinobu became Hōjō Tokimasa’s
son-in-law, he was bound to Yoritomo as members of the same family. The
legend of the lacquered tray relates that Yoritomo greatly trusted both hisfather-in-law Hōjō Tokimasa and Michinobu. To prove this, as a reward to
Michinobu for driving away the Taira, Yoritomo made him the official constable of the seven districts of Dōgo.
However, in Jōkyū 1 (1219), when Minamoto no Sanetomo was assassinated, the real power of the Kamakura bakufu was seized by the Hōjōfamily. In Jōkyū 3 (1221), the Jōkyū uprising began, and Michinobu’s position became difficult. Michinobu had many sons. The Ochi keizu lists themas Michitoshi, whose mother was the daughter of the Taifu who belonged
to Taifu Tamauji in Nii; Michimasa; Michimatsu; Michihisa, whose motherwas one of Hōjō Tokimasa’s daughter; Michihiro; Michimune, whose motherbelonged to the Nikaidō clan; and others. They each were supported by different parties. Michihide, the son of Michitoshi, and Michimasa became samurai who were guards in the court of the retired emperor Gotoba. Masauji,
the son of Michimasa, and Michimatsu achieved a rank in which they werepermitted to enter the imperial palace, and Michimatsu was granted an imperial princess and made her his wife. Therefore, both Michinobu and someof his sons were able to build a strong relationship with the nobility, but the
Jōkyū uprising ruined Michinobu’s good fortune. In Jōkyū 3 (1221), retired
emperor Gotoba commanded that Hōjō Yoshitoki be conquered.
In the end, Michinobu allied himself with the Imperial Court. This isalso made clear in the Ochi keizu, which states, “There was a quarrel between
husband and wife, and he was driven out of Kamakura and headed toward
28
Ippen’s Life, Part 1

the capital.” Michinobu was exiled to Hiraizumi in the north, where he diedat the age of sixty-eight. According to the Ippen hijirie, Ippen mourned at thegrave of his grandfather Michinobu in Esashi, so it appears that Michinobu’s
body was moved to Esashi from Hiraizumi.1 Even Michinobu, who droveaway the Taira clan as commander of the Kōno navy and wielded power as
governor of Iyo, in the end died in tragic circumstances.
The actions taken by Michinobu’s son Michihiro in the Jōkyū uprising
are unclear. However, in contrast to his father, he seems to have allied himself with the bakufu. This was perhaps because his mother was not one of
Hōjō Tokimasa’s daughters, so it was advantageous for him to take this side.
Michihiro was Ippen’s father.

3) Birth
Ippen was born the second son of Michihiro at Hōgonji temple (photos 1-2, 3,4, 5) in Iyo province’s Onsen district, in the Okudani area of Dōgo, eighteen
years after the end of the Jōkyū uprising, when the fortune of the Kōno family had been completely lost.2 He was born on the fifteenth day of the second
month of En’ō 1 (1239), and his childhood name was Shōjumaru. Because
his father Michihiro was granted the title Befu Shichirōzaemonnojō, it isthought he took the Kōno village of Beppu as his headquarters. When Ippen
was born, his father became a renunciant at Dōgo’s Hōgonji temple and wasgiven the Buddhist name Nyobutsu. At Hōgonji temple there is now a stonemarker that reads “Historical Site of Ippen Shōnin’s Birth.” It may have been
1 In Kōan 3 (1280), when Ippen was forty-two, he visited the grave of his grandfather Michinobu, who
met his end in Esashi in northern Japan, falling in the Jōkyū uprising. Michinobu initially had been exiled
to Hiraizumi, but later he was moved to Gokurakuji temple in Esashi. There his life ended, at the age of
sixty-eight, in the fifth month of Jōō 2 (1223). Today, Michinobu’s grave and a stone monument may befound in the middle of a grove on a small knoll after you descend the left bank southeast of Kitakami
Station. After passing through a field of susuki grass, you see the grave rise up out of a pine grove. The
exact same setting is described in the Ippen hijirie.
2 According to its temple history, Hōgonji temple was founded in Tenji 4 (665) and has been famous
since ancient times. It appears to have been a Tendai temple in the Heian period. Ippen’s father Michihiro
was given the monastic name Nyobutsu and secluded himself at this temple, and Ippen was born there.
After Ippen’s death, it prospered under his successor, the monk Sen’a, as a training center for the Okutani
sect of the Ji school. It had twelve sub-temples, but only Ringōan remains today.
29
Ippen’s Roots

1-1 The crest of Kōno Family

1-2 Inside the Hōgonji Temple
30
Ippen’s Life, Part 1

1-3 The stone monument of Ippen’s birthplace

1-4 The stone monument of Ippen’s“Namuami
dabutsu”

1-5 The stone monument of Ippen’s poem tanka
31
Ippen’s Rootserected because of the tradition that Ippen’s father lived there. When I visited
this temple, I climbed a gentle slope to find the marker in a deserted and quiet place that surely resembled its state in former times as well.
When reflecting on both Ippen’s distant ancestors and on those such as
his grandfather Michinobu, one cannot help but think that the circumstancesof the human condition, in which a powerful family must inevitably sink into
the recesses of history, must have heavily influenced Ippen’s own life. His
mother was a daughter of the Taifu of the Tamauji in Nii, and was thus fromthe same family as the Ochi clan.

32
Ippen’s Life, Part 1