In Kamakura, close to Kamakura Station, you can visit a temple of the Buddhist Nichiren Sect, the Myoryuji Temple. At this temple, in the 15th century, lived the priest Nisshin (1407-1488), a man with an amazing strength.
At the age of 19 years, Nisshin started his ascetic training, which lasted for 100 days. Each day during winter, he was standing in the icy water of a pond nearby the temple, reciting sutras.
Then, peeling a fingernail, he was drawing a mandala in the water with the blood flowing from the finger…
The pond can still be seen near the main temple building and it is said to show traces of where Nisshin undertook his terrible training…
Later, in 1427, under the influence of Nichiren, the leader of his sect, Nisshin wrote a book, Rissho Chikokuron (立正治国論) and sent it to the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori. The book was a critic towards the Ashikaga regime, and as a result, Nisshin was arrested, imprisoned and horribly tortured for 2 years.
One of the tortures was placing a hot pot on his head, and since then he was called Nabe kamuri Nisshin, meaning “Nisshin with pot on his head".
Nisshin was strong enough and resisted, and at some moment during torture he made o prophecy, that in 100 days a misfortune will strike the Shogun Yoshinori.
His prediction proved true, soon Yoshinori was killed by a samurai named Mitsusuke Akamatsu. After that, the new Shogun, Yoshikatsu Ashikaga ordered the release of Nisshin.
Nisshin-shonin lived to the age of 82 years. A statue of Nisshin, built in 1634 can be seen today a the Myoryuji Temple.
