B. Ruppert
within established schools in the twelfth century.^8 In the eso- exoteric established complexes,
what we can call the monasteries of Kenmitsu Buddhism, “esoteric Buddhism” (mikkyō) referred
to forms of Buddhism in which the teachings were disseminated through the principle of secret
transmission from master to disciple; in both the Shingon school specializing in esotericism and
within the esoteric wing of Tendai Buddhism, the main object of veneration was ultimately the
Sun Buddha Dainichi, and enlightenment was seen as realized through a combination of the
proper ritual activation of the disciple’s body, speech, and mind to evoke and unite with Dain-
ichi, typically in the form of one of his manifestations (“traces”), which could be another Buddha,
Bodhisattva, or even deity (kami). Kuroda Toshio argued for the dominance of esoteric Buddhist
teaching and practices within the Kenmitsu temples in the medieval era, but more recently
leading scholars of Buddhist studies such as Sueki Fumihiko and Jacqueline Stone have stressed
what they see as the comparative centrality of the exoteric (kengyō) lineages, which focused on
scriptures such as the Lotus Sutra as discourses seen as having been transcribed directly in the pres-
ence of the historical Buddha.^9
The first warrior government elaborated on these features rather than making an effort to
replace them. Rather than turning to the monks of Zen lineages alone—an image common in
postwar academic circles—the shogunate from its earliest stages attempted to import ritual prac-
titioners from the major Kenmitsu monastic centers of the capital region. Minamoto Yoritomo
(1147–1199), from the 1180s, invited Buddhist monks and shrine officiants from the regions sur-
rounding Kamakura to the complex he had begun to construct there, the shrine (-temple)
complex Tsurugaoka Hachimangū. Both he and his military organization were primarily inter-
ested in acquiring ritual practitioners who were capable of performing rites that would benefit
them such as esoteric rites (shuhō) and memorial offerings (kuyō).^10
The most prominent monks at the time were those of the Onjōji lineage (Tendai), along with
a series of monks who were of Taira background.^11 Nevertheless, the shogunal family and sho-
gunate came to incorporate a series of lineages of Kenmitsu monasteries over time. The promi-
nent Shingon abbot of Tsurugaoka, Jōgō (1152–1238), was the first major monk in the employ
of the shogunate to return to prominent complexes in the royal- capital area, assuming the abbacy
at Mount Kōya and then Tōji.^12 The shogunate had thus successfully incorporated established
Kenmitsu Buddhists into its ritual life, which offered it both the ritual knowledge of exo- esoteric
monks but also association with their status, given their family backgrounds and connections
with the court. The success of the shogunate was consolidated by at least the 1260s, when a series
of Kenmitsu monks originally trained in Kamakura itself came to great prominence even in the
capital area, where they became leading abbots of major monasteries such as Onjōji.
This interweaving of court- related scions, the shogunate, and court may be related to a feature
of the power- bloc system that is sometimes overlooked: the interrelationship between power-
blocs, which Kuroda Toshio seems to assume but for which Mikael Bauer has offered a clearer
interpretation more recently. Bauer’s emphasis on monks’ participation in multiple schools
within and between Kenmitsu monasteries has helped scholars understand that the power- blocs
at such sites were in no sense monolithic since monks retained ties to other temples, sometimes
ones housing other power- blocs.^13
Monks of warrior background were so prominent in the major complexes by the twelfth
century that it comes as no surprise that monks of warrior heritage were the first to bend and, in
some ways, break the tie with their traditions—the putative “founder” of Pure Land lineages
(Jōdo shū), Hōnen (Genkū; 1133–1212), who was forced to descend from the Tendai center at
Mount Hiei for his promotion of nenbutsu- only practice (senju nenbutsu), and the poet- monk
Saigyō (1118–1190), who traveled on a level that was very rare for the period.^14