Premodern Roots, Modern Elaborations: Continuity and Innovation in the Making of Nichiren in Japan

Since the nineteenth and early twentieth century, biographers of Nichiren have not been limited to clerics and lay devotees, and Nichiren has not been represented exclusively as the founder of the Nichirenshū. However, most modern elaborations have premodern roots and therefore represent as much continuity as innovation. The life story of Nichiren has been elaborated in a wide range of literary, visual and performing arts genres, including hagiographies, novels, kabuki plays, paintings, and films. Following an overview of the premodern Nichiren images and hagiographies and their defining characteristics, this study explores how the accounts of Nichiren’s life were modified and amplified by nonclerical authors in modern Japan. It argues that for Japanese Buddhism, modernity entailed not only the demythologization of the founder’s image, but also its remythologization in a new manner, which served the needs of the narrators and their audiences.