Features of The Temple
The stone lanterns near the gate were brought here from Tokyo's Zōjō-ji, one of the two Tokugawa funerary temples. To their right lies the so-called Goshoan (御小庵, Small Hermitage?), built on the place where Nichiren wrote the Risshō Ankoku Ron. The old tree in front of it is said to have been planted by Nichiren himself, who had brought the sapling from Chiba. Further ahead lies the main hall, rebuilt in 1963 after having been destroyed by fire.
Beyond the main hall, in the cemetery lies Nichiro's funerary pavilion, which contains his ashes. Nichiro was one of Nichiren's best followers, and he chose to be cremated and buried here.
Above it, the Nanmenkutsu (南面窟, South-facing cave?) is the place where Nichiren is supposed to have hidden in 1260 when attackers burned his hut down. The statue of a white monkey in it commemorates his salvation at the hands of the animal, who led him to safety and fed him. The white monkey is an attendant of the Sannō Gongen, a kami who is a manifestation of Buddhist god Taishakuten.
Following the mountain path beyond the cave one reaches first, on a ridge above the entrance, the temple's bronze Bell of Peace, then the spot where Nichiren used to go every day to see Mount Fuji, the Fujimidai. From it are visible, besides the volcano, the city of Kamakura, its beach, and Hakone.
Going down the stone stairs the visitor returns to the entrance, where stands the Kumaō Daizenjin Sonden (熊王大善神尊殿?) (an Inari shrine enshrining a samurai who served Nichiren).
Read more about this topic: Ankokuron-ji
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