Editing Nichiren Buddhism (section)

==== Origin of the Fuji School ====
Although there were rivalries and unique interpretations among the early Hokkeshũ lineages, none were as deep and distinct as the divide between the Nikkō or Fuji school and the rest of the tradition.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|334}} Animosity and discord among the six senior disciples started after the second death anniversary of Nichiren's 100th Day Memorial ceremony (23 January 1283) when the rotation system as agreed upon the "''Shuso Gosenge Kiroku''" (English: Record document of founder's demise) and ''Rimbo Cho'' (English: Rotation Wheel System) to clean and maintain Nichiren's grave.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}} By the third anniversary of Nichiren's passing (13 October 1284), these arrangements seemed to have broken down. Nikkō claimed that the other five senior priests no longer returned to Nichiren's tomb in Mount Minobu, citing signs of neglect at the gravesite. He took up residency and overall responsibility for [[Kuonji]] temple while Nikō served as its doctrinal instructor.  Before long tensions grew between the two concerning the behavior of Hakii Nanbu Rokurō Sanenaga, the steward of the Minobu district and the temple's patron.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|335}}

Nikkō accused Sanenaga of unorthodox practices deemed to be [[heretical]] such as crafting a standing statue of [[Shakyamuni Buddha]] as an object of worship, providing funding for the construction of a [[Pure Land Buddhism|Pure Land]] ''[[stupa]]'' in Fuji, and visiting and worshiping at the [[Mishima Taisha]] Shinto shrine which was an honorary shrine of the [[Hōjō clan]] [[Kamakura shogunate|shogunate]]. Nikkō regarded the latter as a violation of Nichiren's ''Rissho ankoku ron''.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|335}}

In addition, Nikkō made accusatory charges that after Nichiren's death, other disciples slowly began to gradually deviate from what Nikkō viewed as Nichiren's orthodox teachings. Chief among these complaints was the [[syncretism|syncretic]] practices of some of the disciples to worship images of [[Shakyamuni Buddha]]. Nikkō admonished other disciple priests for signing their names "Tendai Shamon" (of the [[Tendai]] Buddhist school) in documents they sent to the [[Kamakura]] government. Furthermore, Nikkō alleged that the other disciples disregarded some of Nichiren's writings written in [[Katakana]] rather than in [[Classical Chinese]] syllabary.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

Sanenaga defended his actions, claiming that it was customary for his political family to provide monetary donations and make homage to the Shinto shrine of the Kamakura shogunate. Nikō tolerated Sanenaga's acts, claiming that similar incidents occurred previously with the knowledge of Nichiren. Sanenaga sided with Nikō and Nikkō departed in 1289 from Minobu.  He returned to his home in [[Suruga Province]] and established two temples: [[Taiseki-ji]] in the Fuji district and [[Ikegami Honmon-ji|Honmonji]] in Omosu district.  He spent most of his life at the latter, where he trained his followers.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|335–336}}

According to Stone, it is not absolutely clear that Nikkō intended to completely break from the other senior disciples and start his own school. However, his followers claimed that he was the only one of the six senior disciples who maintained the purity of Nichiren's legacy. Two documents appeared, first mentioned and discovered by Taiseki-ji High Priest Nikkyo Shonin in 1488, claiming Nichiren transferred his teaching exclusively to Nikkō but their authenticity has been questioned. Taiseki-ji does not dispute that the original documents are missing but holds that certified copies are preserved in their repositories. In contrast, other Nichiren sects vehemently claim them as forgeries since they are not in the original handwriting of Nichiren or Nikkō, holding they were copied down by Nikkō's disciples after his death."<ref name=Montgomery1991 />{{rp|169}}<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|336}}

In addition to using the letters to defend its claim to orthodoxy, the documents may have served to justify Taiseki-ji's claimed superiority over other Nikkō temples, especially [[Ikegami Honmon-ji]], the site of Nichiren's tomb. Even though there had been efforts by temples of the Nikkō lineage in the late 19th century to unify into one single separate Nichiren school the ''Kommon-ha'', today's Nichiren Shōshū comprises only the Taiseki-ji temple and its dependent temples. It is not identical to the historical Nikkō or Fuji lineage. Parts of the ''Kommon-ha'', the ''Honmon-Shu'', eventually became part of Nichiren Shu in the 1950s. [[Shinshukyo|Japanese new religious movements]] such as the [[Sōka Gakkai]], [[Shōshinkai]], and [[Kenshōkai]] trace their origins to the Nichiren Shōshū school and they all eventually branched from it.<ref name="Chryssides 1999">{{cite book |author-last=Chryssides |author-first=George D. |author-link=George D. Chryssides |year=1999 |chapter=New Forms of Buddhism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RXGvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 |title=Exploring New Religions |location=London |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum International]] |pages=220–223 |isbn=0-8264-5959-5}}</ref>