Encyclopedia of Shinto

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カテゴリー1： 8. Schools, Groups, and Personalities
カテゴリー2： Personalities
Title
Keikōin Seijun
Text (d. 1566)
Buddhist nun of the Warring Provinces (sengoku) period (ca. 1467-1568). Born in Kumano (present-day Wakayama Prefecture), Seijun was third matriarch of the Buddhist convent Keisōin in Uji, Ise Province (present-day Mie Prefecture), and the Dharma-heir of Chikei Shōnin. Lamenting the long disruption in the observance of the vicennial Regular Rebuilding and Rededication (shikinen sengū) of the Grand Shrines of Ise (Ise Jingū), Seijun first visited several provinces to solicit donations for the rebuilding project and applied them to the rebuilding of the Uji Bridge in 1549. For these acts she received an imperial permit from then-Emperor Gonara, and was granted the high title of In (head of a convent or temple). Next, she received an imperial order from Emperor Ōgimachi allowing her to canvass nationwide for donations from members of the warrior class, donations that facilitated the reconstruction of Ise's Outer Shrine (Gekū) in the autumn of 1563—the first rebuilding in one hundred and twenty-nine years.
During this perod, Seijun also successfully negotiated with Kitabatake Tomonori, Governor of Ise Province, to have the barrier stations between Ise and Omi Provinces removed for one month prior to and after the shrine removal ceremonies for the convenience of pilgrims traveling to the Grand Shrine. She further solicited donations from both public and private sources for the purpose of rebuilding the Inner Shrine (Naikū) as well, but she died on the third day of the fourth month of 1566, unable to fulfill that purpose.

- Nakanishi Masayuki

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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