Tales from the Gosho:  
Ichimyo-maro

This month we will discuss one of the stories seen in the writings of 
Nichiren Daishonin, entitled "Ichimyo-maro". In the first installment 
of this series, we will present a story about Ohashi Sadatsune. This 
person is noted in "Reply to Lord Nanjo"1, also referred to as "The 
Story of Ohashi-no-taro". (M.W., Vol. 6, p. 147). In a letter to Lord 
Nanjo Tokimitsu, Nichiren Daishonin writes that as Ichimyo-maro 
realizes his father had been captured by enemies and imprisoned in 
a dungeon, he earnestly prays with wholehearted belief in the Lotus 
Sutra that his father's life will be spared and that he will not be 
beheaded.
Ichimyo-maro is the childhood name of Ohashi Sadatsune, who was 
born on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu. His father, Ohashi 
Taro Zaemon-no-jo had been a retainer of Taira no Kiyomori2 and 
the steward of the three provinces of Chikugo, Chikuzen and Higo3. 
The Genji and Heike Clans4 battled for power throughout Japan, 
resulting in the Heike Clan being defeated. Ichimyo-maro's father, 
Ohashi Taro Zaemon-no-jo, was captured by Minamoto Yoritomo5 
and brought to the city of Kamakura where he was imprisoned for 
twelve years. 
Ichimyo-maro had been born after his father's arrest. He lived 
together with his mother and at the age of seven, entered a mountain 
temple and began training for the Buddhist priesthood. His 
schoolmates and friends ridiculed him, calling him a "fatherless 
child". When he asked his mother about his father, his mother 
explained, "Your father is a respectable Samurai warrior who was 
defeated in battle, taken prisoner by his enemies and brought to the 
city of Kamakura. I do not know if he is still alive." She then showed 
Ichimyo-maro a letter that his father had written and a diary that 
she kept as keepsakes. Out of love for his father, Ichimyo-maro 
memorized every passage in the Lotus Sutra that his mother 
believed in and earnestly prayed for his father's safety. 
Ichimyo-maro just could not subdue his deep feelings of wanting to 
see his father. So, at the age of twelve, he left Kyushu and walked by 
himself all the way to Kamakura in search of his father.
Ichimyo-maro stood in front of the Hachiman Shrine as he arrived in 
the city of Kamakura. He fell to his knees and folded his hands in 
prayer. He stood for hours reciting the Lotus Sutra with a clear voice 
as he asked Bodhisattva Hachiman6 with all his heart to "Please, 
somehow grant my prayers. Help me to find my father alive and 
well."  
A passerby named Lady Nii (Masako7, the wife of Yoritomo) heard 
him praying and suggested he go and recite the Sutra in the hall of 
the palace of the Shogun. Following her suggestion, he was chanting 
the Lotus Sutra in the palace when a boisterous noise came from the 
palace gardens. Inquiring to what it was about, Ichimyo-maro was 
told that a man called Ohashi Taro who had been imprisoned for 
twelve years was about to be beheaded. 
Not knowing what to do, Ichimyo-maro started to cry loudly "My 
father is going to be killed!" As the Shogun Minamoto Yoritomo 
passed by, Ichimyo-maro pleaded with him. "The man who is about 
to be beheaded is my father. Please help my father for whom I 
prayed to Bodhisattva Hachiman to save!" While staring at Ichimyo-
maro as the Shogun grappled with the child's feelings for his parents, 
he decided to spare the life of Ohashi Taro. 
A horse raced toward the execution site at Yuigahama where at that 
very moment, the executioner had just raised his blade. Halting the 
execution, Ohashi Taro was saved a the very last moment. 
Ohashi Taro whose life had been spared, discovered that he had been 
rescued by a child. He was even more surprised to find out that this 
child was indeed his own son who had been conceived shortly before 
being captured and was born while he had been imprisoned. 
Minamoto Yoritomo commented, "This child is yours. You are an 
enemy general and you were not executed but instead forced to 
suffer imprisonment for twelve years. However, I hereby pardon you 
due to the merit of this child's faith and practice of the Lotus Sutra." 
The father and child were overjoyed as they held on to each other in 
a tearful embrace. Yoritomo continued, "the Lotus Sutra is a Law for 
which we should all be grateful. Through my own faith in the Lotus 
Sutra, I was able to apprehend my parents enemies. The reason that 
this child has been able to save his father is truly because of the 
benefit of the Lotus Sutra. It is a totally incomprehensible, but 
marvelous thing!"
The Lotus Sutra is the highest of all the numerous sutras. It is the 
teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha that leads all humanity to 
happiness. Nichiren Daishonin has taught that for all those who truly 
love their parents, it is important that they perform Gongyo. Nichiren 
Daishonin revealed the Gohonzon so that all of us could carry out the 
practice of the Lotus Sutra, the most important of all Shakyamuni's 
teachings. Ichimyo-maro believed in and carried out the practice of 
the one True Law of Buddhism and was thus, able to save the life of 
his father. Let's all become truly happy and work hard to make the 
wonders of this Gohonzon known to all the people who are not yet 
acquainted with Nichiren Daishonin's True Buddhism.

1. Written in 1276 from Mt. Minobu when Nichiren Daishonin was 55 
years old.
2. Taira no Kiyomori (1118-1181): Also referred to as Taira Kiyomori, 
son of the ex-emperor Shirakawa and the most renowned member of 
the Taira Clan and a very prominent person in Japanese history who 
in 1129, succeeded Taira Tadamori and virtually governed Japan for 
twenty years.
3. Chikugo, Chikuzen and Higo:  The two ancient provinces of Chikugo 
and Chikuzen were located in what constitutes present day Fukuoka 
Prefecture in the northwestern sector of the island of Kyushu. Higo 
was located in the current Prefecture of Kumamotoa, in the western 
area of Kyushu.
4. Genji and Heike Clans:  The Genji Clan is composed of four branches 
of the Minamoto family while the Heike Clan, also referred to as the 
Heishi, are the Taira family. Minamoto is an alternative reading of 
the same Chinese character Gen of the name Genji. The term "Genji" 
in itself, therefore, signifies the Minamoto family. The Genji were 
closely associated with the noble family of the Fujiwara Clan who 
fought with Genji against the Taira. The word "Taira" is an alternative 
reading of the same Chinese character Hei of the name Heike. The 
ancestor of the aristocratic family of Taira Clan was Takamochi, the 
grandson of the Emperor, Kammu. These two foci of the Genji and the 
Heike Clans battled for authority over Japan in 1160 (1159, by the 
lunar calendar) during the Heiji War, also referred to as the Heiji 
Insurrection.
5. Minamoto Yoritomo: (1147-1199): the first Minamoto Shogun, or 
lieutenant-governor, and founder of the Kamakura Shogunate which 
governed Japan from 1192 to 1333.
6. Bodhisattva Hachiman: The original form of this bodhisattva was 
Shakyamuni Buddha who preached the Lotus Sutra.
7. Masako: (1157-1225): Daughter of Hojo Tokimasa, Masako has 
sometimes been referred to in Japanese history as Ama-Shogun, or 
the Nun Shogun, and Nii no Zenni, or the Zen Nun Nii. Masako was 
appointed governor of Kyoto in 1185. After her husband, the first 
Kamakura Shogun Minamoto Yoritomo died in 1199, the widowed 
Lady Nii had her head shaved and governed in the name of her son. 
After her son Sanetomo was assassinated in 1219, Masako had a two 
year old child, Fujiwara Yoritsune appointed emperor as she 
governed together with her brother, the Kamakura Regent, Hojo 
Yoshitoki.


References:

1. Reply to Lord Nanjo (also referred to as The Story of Ohashi-no-
taro"), Showa Shintei Gosho, Vol. III, p.1460-1476, Nichiren Shoshu 
Taisekiji; Shinpen Gosho p.970-974, Nichiren Shoshu Taisekiji; Gosho 
Zenshu ("The Complete Writings [of Nichiren Daishonin]"), Nichiren 
Shoshu and Soka Gakkai Joint Edition, pp. 1531-1534; The Major 
Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. VI, p.147-155.

2. A History of Japan to 1334, G. Sansom, Tuttle.

3. Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan, E. Papinot, Tuttle.

4. Myokyo, Edition no. 8 June, 1993, Myokyo Publishing Committee, 
Nichiren Shoshu Hoshoji Temple


©1995 Nichiren Shoshu Monthly