Jissoji Temple

According to records, for two and a half years from 1272, the great monk Nichiren, having been banished to Ichinosawa, recited the lotus sutra at this Buddhist temple each morning. Beyond the temple’s thatched roof Deva gate, visitors are welcomed by the moss-covered temple approach. A statue on the grounds depicts a standing Nichiren as he looked each morning thinking of his parents in his home of Awa Province. It is recorded that Nichiren would stand on the hill here, hang his monk’s stole on an old pine, ritually rinse his mouth using water from a spring below the cliff, and express his thanks for the tender care his parents had given him. Temple treasures such as its wooden statues of the two Deva kings, framed depiction of the Sanbaso dance, and annotated and illustrated Avalokitesvara Sutra are all registered as prefectural or municipal Cultural Properties.