Taiseki-ji Struck by Lightning

On August 12th, just before 4 p.m., lightning hit a 510-year-old cedar tree located just east side of the Hoan-do building in Taiseki-ji. This was just after the gokaihi ceremony and many Hokke-kyo members heard the loud thunder. Soon a fire broke out from the middle of the huge tree. Black smoke began to gather over the area and eight fire trucks were dispatched.

On that day, about 300 Hokke-kyo members participated in the gokaihi ceremony led by high priest Nichinyo, starting at 1:30 p.m. Lightning and thunder started around the same time and by the time the ceremony was finished, a heavy downpour of rain made the participants wet.

Then, around 3:00 pm, the storm caused the Taiseki-ji area to lose its electricity.

The damaged cedar tree was 510 years old and was designated as a protected species in Shizuoka prefecture in 1966.

In the past, many thunderstorms have hit Taiseki-ji. For example, in 1998, when Nikken decided to spend some 5 billion yen to demolish Sho-hondo, a lightning struck the middle of the temple grounds. However, this is the first time that a thunderstorm has caused eight fire trucks to be dispatched.

One Hokke-kyo member shared the feelings felt by many, saying "It seems that Buddhist deities are not protecting Taiseki-ji temple now."