Horin Josho

  • Born: 1593/1/22
  • Died: 1668/8/24
  • Japanese: 鳳林承章 (Hôrin Jôshô)

Hôrin Jôshô was the 95th abbot of the Kyoto Zen temple of Shôkoku-ji and Rokuon-ji (Kinkaku-ji).

A son of kuge Kajûji Harutoyo, he became a disciple of Saishô Shôtai at age seven (in 1600), and then took the tonsure in 1625. He served as a monk at Rokuon-ji and elsewhere before becoming abbot of Shôkokuji, and became a member of Emperor Go-Mizunoo's salon, as well as various other social circles. His extensive interactions with members of the kugyô court aristocracy, tea masters such as Kanamori Sôwa, and Confucian scholars such as Hayashi Razan, make his diary, Kakumeiki, which he kept from 1635 to 1668, a highly valuable source today on the political and cultural scene of early Edo period Kyoto.

The Kakumeiki was published in a modern type version by Rokuon-ji in 1958.

References