Nichiren’s sangha series Priest Disciples: Iyo Ajari Nitcho

This book examines the life and endeavors of the less known Nichiren senior disciple Iyo-bō Nitchō (1252~1317). Probably related to the Nanjō clan, he was born at Omosu as the first child of Kobayashi Iyomori Sadatoki, a samurai who perished in an armed conflict. His mother Myōjō (?~1303), was either the daughter of Tachibana dono the steward of Omosu, who was temporarily in charge of Iyo province. The young Nitchō moved to Kamakura along with his widowed mother where she met Toki Jōnin. At the age of eight, after being encouraged by Toki to study Buddhism, Nitchō entered Mamasan Guhō-ji, a temple nearby the Toki family estate. He became Nichiren’s disciple in 1267 and in 1275 he and Toki converted the temple. After Nichiren’s passing, around 1291 Iyo-bō seemed to lean back to his former Tendai background, identifying himself as a Tendai-Hokkeshū shamon on official documents, the same as Nisshō and Nichirō. In 1302 he entered in a disagreement with Toki and left Guhō-ji to join his brother at Omosu.