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[[File:Onjo-kendo.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Monument to Onjô Kendô at [[Hikone castle]]]]
*''Born: [[1823]]''
*''Born: [[1823]]''
*''Died: [[1910]]''
*''Died: [[1910]]''
Onjô Kendô was a samurai scholar and Buddhist monk known for his exceptional devotion to his lord, [[Ii Naosuke]].
Onjô Kendô was a samurai scholar and Buddhist monk known for his exceptional devotion to his lord, [[Ii Naosuke]].
Born into a low-ranking samurai family in [[Hikone]] in [[1823]], he entered the domain's [[teppo|gunnery]] squad at the age of 15, but soon afterwards began studying medicine under a domain physician.
Born into a low-ranking samurai family in [[Hikone]] in [[1823]], Onjô Heiemon entered the domain's [[teppo|gunnery]] squad at the age of 15, but soon afterwards began studying medicine under a domain physician. He also studied painting, Confucianism, and [[Zen]] practice.
After the [[Sakuradamongai Incident]] in which his lord [[Ii Naosuke]] was killed, Onjô felt a deep sense of loyalty, and wished to devote himself further to his lord in some fashion. Feeling that following his lord in death by [[junshi|committing seppuku]] was "a dog's death," however, he decided to instead become a monk and devote himself to watching over Naosuke's grave. He became a disciple of the head of [[Seiryo-ji|Seiryô-ji]], the [[Ii clan]] [[bodaiji|family temple]], and took on the monastic name Kendô.
In [[1865]], he moved to [[Edo]], leaving behind a wife and six children, and took up a position at the Ii clan temple of [[Gotoku-ji|Gôtoku-ji]], where he devoted himself to watching over Naosuke's grave, tidying and cleaning the cemetery, reciting sutras, and other such activities, for the next 37 years. After his death in [[1910]], gravestones were erected for Onjô both at Gôtoku-ji and at Hikone castle, next to those for Naosuke.
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==References==
*Plaques on-site at Hikone castle.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8717008193/sizes/k/]
*[[Haru Matsukata Reischauer]], ''Samurai and Silk: A Japanese and American Heritage'', Harvard University Press (1986), 171-172.
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]
[[Category:Religious Figures]]
[[Category:Samurai]]
