Ryochu (良忠)
Ryochu (August 20, 1199 - August 16, 1287) was a Jodo sect Buddhist monk during the middle of the Kamakura period. His real personal name was Zena. He was posthumously titled Kishu Zenji. He came from Sangu in Iwami Province.
He entered Enjoji Temple (Mitsuidera Temple) and Gakuenji Temple in Izumo Province, and studied the doctrines of the Jodo sect, Tendai sect, Shingon sect, and Hosso sect. In 1236, he became a disciple of Bencho who was a disciple of Honen, and in 1240, he received the devotion of Tsunetoki HOJO, a chief retainer of Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), and founded Rengeji Temple (present Komyoji Temple) in Kamakura. In 1248, he gave Endonkai (Perfect and Sudden Precepts) to Emperor Gosaga. He widely propagated Jodokyo Buddhism through Kanto area, occasionally competed against Nichiren.