After returning from banishment to the island of Sado, Nichiren returned for a period to Kamakura, the seat of the Kamakura shogunate which ruled Japan at the time. He was invited by the magistrate Nambu Sanenaga, one of his converts, to relocate to Kai province, where the Nanbu clan had its ancestral estates, in 1274. Soon after his arrival Nichiren set up a hermitage that became a centre of learning for his disciples and adherents. The original dwelling became too small and in 1281 Nichiren founded a temple nearby, which he named Minobu-san Hokke-in Kuon-ji. More than half of the extant letters of Nichiren were written during his years at Minobu. Some consisted of moving letters to followers expressing appreciation for their assistance, counseling on personal matters, and explaining his teachings in more understandable terms. Two of his works from this period, the Senji Shō and the Hōon Shō constitute, along with his Risshō Ankoku Ron, Kaimoku Shō, and Kanjin no Honzon Shō, what is commonly regarded as his five major writings. In 1282, Nichiren fell ill and his followers encouraged him to travel to a hot spring. En route, he stopped at the home of a disciple in Ikegami, outside of present-day Tokyo, and died in 1282. Following Nichiren's wishes his ashes were brought to the temple and are enshrined in a mausoleum on the temple grounds. The temple grew in popularity as a place of pilgrimage through the Sengoku and Edo periods, and in 1712 boasted of 133 chapels within its extensive grounds. However, many of the temple's buildings were destroyed in fires which occurred in 1744, 1776, 1821, 1824, 1829, 1865, and 1875. The present-day temple remains a very large establishment. Over 1.5 million people visit the temple annually. It is reached by bus or car and then climbing the 287 steps nown locally as "the steps of enlightenment", which are climbed by chanting pilgrims regularly each year. The blossoming of thousands of cherry trees, including the hundred-year-old weeping cherry tree in the garden, also makes this temple a popular tourist destination
Song dynasty copy of the Book of Rites in two volumes, discovered in the Kuon-ji library by Tokutomi Sohō, and corresponding to a section missing from the same manuscript in the possession of Kanazawa Bunko. Designated on May 3, 1955.
Kamakura period hanging scrolls, of the Shaku Hasso or eight phases in the life of Buddha. Kuon-ji has three of the original eight scrolls in the series. One more is located at the Nezu Art Museum. Designated on June 21, 1991.
