Another Nichiren Shoshu Priest Resigned

Doshi Nakamura, a 40-year-old chief priest of Choen-ji temple, in Ikeda-cho, Hokkai-do, Japan, resigned. He was the second priest to resiggn as a result of the 60-temple guidance tour by Nichiren Shoshu senior priests. Masanobu Nagaei was the first.

The guidance session at Choen-ji took place in August 30th. The senior priest who was in charge was Shinsho Abe, Nikken's son. The problem at the temple is lack of attendance: the number of lay members who belong to Choen-ji temple is only in the double digits. The number of participants for a temple Oko ceremony is often just three or even less.

Nakamura hatched up a plan to get more Hokkeko members from Hoko-ji temple, a neighboring temple in Obihiro. His plan was to have the Kotos (lay leaders) use the guidance session to ask that some Hokkeko members be transferred to Choen-ji temple from Hoko-ji. The Kotos even stated that they would resign if the request were not approved. After all that drama, the request was denied flatly, and the Kotos were persuaded not to resign immediately.

Eventually, however, despairing of the future of Nichiren Shoshu and feeling disgust for the ugly internal conflict among temple members, the Kotos did resign. Feeling blame for their resignations, Nakamura himself resigned as a chief priest of the temple.

The financial condition of Choen-ji was quite desperate. There was electricity but the telephone line was out, and there was no fuel for heating a bath. There are more Nichiren Shoshu temples that are equally poverty-stricken. It seems likely that more priests will be following Nakamura's example.

(Excerpted and translated based on Taiseki-ji Tanshin #407, dated November 15, 2006)