Kuonji Temple on Mt. Minobu

Nichiren Shonin entered Mt Minobu on 17 May 1274 (Bunei 11) and, after a month's pilgrimage to Kai Province, entered the hermitage he had built in Nishitani on 17 June 1274, thus founding the temple. The temple was named "Minobu-san Myohoke-in Kuon-ji Temple".
In 1475, the temple was moved from the narrow and damp Nishitani valley to its present location, where the temple buildings were renovated and subsequently flourished, receiving the worship and protection of the Takeda and Tokugawa families.
After Nichiren's death, the Dharma light remained uninterrupted and the mausoleum has been protected by successive abbots to this day.
It is said that the temple is arranged to resemble the body of Nichiren Shonin, with the Okunoin Shichinkaku as the "head" and the various buildings as the "chest", "hands" and "knees", and that it represents the world of salvation of the Lotus Sutra, in analogy with the main mandala image of the Lotus Sutra.