Kakujō 覺盛 (1194–1249) — Founder of the Tōshōdai-ji 唐招提寺 line of the Kamakura Vinaya (Ritsu 律) revival, and one of the principal Japanese Buddhist reformers of the 13th century. Native of Hattori-gō 服部郷 in Yamato (the Nara region). Posthumous title Daihi Bosatsu 大悲菩薩 (“Great-Compassion Bodhisattva”). By-names: 學律 (Vinaya-learner); 窮情 (Exhaustive-Feeling).
He entered Kōfuku-ji 興福寺 at age eight. In Ninji 1 = 1240, he conferred the Bodhisattva precepts upon Emperor Shijō 四條 (1231–1242). In Kangen 1 = 1243 he was imperially commanded to take up residence at Tōshōdai-ji — the Jianzhen-lineage monastery in Nara — where he lectured on the Vinaya School’s three great manuals and devoted himself to the temple’s revival, earning the epithet “Jianzhen reborn” (鑑真再生).
His most consequential reform was the self-vow ordination (jisei jukai 自誓受戒) of Katei 2 = 1236, in which he and his companions (including Eison 叡尊) vowed and obtained the three-aggregate precepts directly before the Buddhas without three-master / seven-witness mediation — an institutional reform that established the universal-vow (tōngshòu 通受) tradition at Tōshōdai-ji and made possible the broader Kamakura Vinaya revival.
He is one of the four founders of the Kamakura Vinaya revival, alongside Eison 叡尊 (1201–1290, Saidai-ji), Ninshō 忍性 (1217–1303, Saidai-ji), and Eishun 慧珍.
His three principal canonical works are all preserved in the Taishō Shoshūbu:
- KR6t0049 Púsà jièběn zōngyào záwén jí 菩薩戒本宗要雜文集 (T74n2352), 1 fasc. — Antei 2 = 1228 draft, at age 36.
- KR6t0050 Púsà jiè tōngshòu qiǎnyí chāo 菩薩戒通受遣疑鈔 (T74n2353), 1 fasc. — Kangen 4 = 1246.
- KR6t0051 Púsà jiè tōngbié èrshòu chāo 菩薩戒通別二受鈔 (T74n2354), 1 fasc. — Katei 4 = 1238.
DILA Buddhist Person Authority A001948. Standard biographical source: Mochizuki, Bukkyō daijiten, 5917.1.