Renkō-ji Temple

Overview

Renkō-ji (蓮光寺, れんこうじ) is a Buddhist temple in Suginami ward, in the western part of Tokyo. It was founded in 1594, during the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1603), in the third year of the Bunroku era (文禄, ぶんろく). The temple belongs to the Nichiren sect of Buddhism, which holds that human salvation lies solely in the Lotus Sutra.

The temple is small and well preserved, and its founding was inspired by the God of Wealth and Happiness. It is also associated with the deaths of two men who died together in a plane crash in August 1945: the Indian revolutionary Subhas Chandra Bose and Lieutenant General Tsunamasa Shidei. The temple is assumed to be the location of their ashes.

History

Renkō-ji was established in 1594. The date places its founding in the closing decade of the Azuchi–Momoyama period, the era of unification under Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and in the third year of the Bunroku era. The temple was founded in what is now Suginami ward, in the west of Tokyo.

The founding was inspired by the God of Wealth and Happiness. The temple belongs to the Nichiren sect, the school of Buddhism that traces its origins to the thirteenth-century monk Nichiren and that teaches that salvation is found only in the Lotus Sutra.

In August 1945, near the end of the Second World War, Subhas Chandra Bose and Lieutenant General Tsunamasa Shidei died together in a plane crash. Renkō-ji is assumed to be the location of their ashes.

What Stands There Today

Renkō-ji remains a small, well-preserved temple in Suginami ward. It continues to belong to the Nichiren sect and to function as a Buddhist temple rather than as a museum or monument.

The temple's association with Subhas Chandra Bose gives it a following beyond Japan. Bose led the Indian independence movement's armed wing, the Indian National Army, and is a national hero in India; the belief that his ashes rest at Renkō-ji has made the temple a place of pilgrimage for Indians visiting Tokyo. Lieutenant General Tsunamasa Shidei, a Japanese officer, died in the same crash, and the temple is assumed to hold his ashes as well.

The Name in Japanese

The temple's name is written 蓮光寺. In kana it is れんこうじ, and in romaji it is Renkō-ji — often written Renkoji without the macron. The name breaks into three kanji, each with its own reading and meaning in this word.

蓮 — read ren here. The character means "lotus." It is the same character used in the title of the Lotus Sutra, the scripture at the centre of the Nichiren sect's teaching, and its presence in the temple's name signals that affiliation directly.

光 — read kō here. The character means "light" or "radiance." It is a common element in Japanese temple and personal names, where it carries a sense of illumination or glory.

寺 — read ji here. The character means "temple." It is the standard suffix for a Buddhist temple in Japanese, and it appears in the names of temples across the country. When it forms part of a compound, it is usually read ji rather than tera, its standalone reading.

Read together, the three characters give "Lotus Light Temple." The name is not unique in Japan — other temples share it — so the Suginami temple is distinguished by its location and by its connection to the events of 1945.

Visiting and Context

Renkō-ji sits in Suginami ward, in the western suburbs of Tokyo, at coordinates roughly 35.70 north and 139.65 east. Suginami is a largely residential part of the city, and the temple is a neighbourhood institution rather than a major tourist site.

For visitors, the temple's interest is twofold. It is a Nichiren-sect temple founded in 1594 and still standing, which makes it a useful example of the small, long-lived temples that survive in Tokyo's residential districts. And it is tied to one of the more consequential deaths of the twentieth century: Subhas Chandra Bose, who sought Indian independence by force of arms with Japanese support, died in a plane crash in August 1945 along with Lieutenant General Tsunamasa Shidei, and Renkō-ji is assumed to hold their ashes. That assumption has drawn Indian visitors and officials to the temple for decades.

The temple's founding in 1594 places it in the same period as the Bunroku era, a time of continental ambition under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, whose invasions of Korea began in the Bunroku era and give it its name. The temple itself was a local foundation inspired by the God of Wealth and Happiness, and it has remained a local temple through the centuries that followed, including the war that produced the crash associated with it.