Genyu (玄宥)

Genyu (1529 - November 14, 1605) was a Shingon Sect Buddhist monk who lived from the Sengoku period (period of warring states) into the beginning of the Edo period. He was born in Shimotsuke Province.

He began his religious studies on Mt. Negoro (home to a large temple complex), and then studied at Nanto (southern capital (Nara)), Onjo-ji Temple, and Mt. Hiei, learning about several different Buddhist sects. In 1577 he took up residence at Negoro's Chizekiin Temple, but when the temple complex at Negoro met with fiery destruction in 1585 at the hands of Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, he fled to Mt. Koya. Thereafter, he was given a land grant for temple construction in Kyoto's Higashiyama area by Ieyasu TOKUGAWA, so in 1600 he rebuilt Chizekiin Temple on the new plot.

[Original Japanese]