Early history The initial order which led to the sect was founded in by the itinerant Pure Land ascetic (nembutsu hijiri)
Ippen. Ippen was strongly influenced by the teachings of the Pure Land master
Shōkū, as well the practices of past wandering holy men (hijiri) like
Kūya (903–972) and the hijiris of
Mt. Kōya. Ippen was also influenced by
Zen Buddhism and he even received
Dharma transmission as a
Zen master from
Rōshi Kakushin. Ippen led his order on continual wandering throughout
Japan (a practice called
yugyō), visiting all major towns and holy places and gathering a following. The group promoted nembutsu practice to all people (including peasants and
outcasts) through practices like the dancing nenbutsu and the distribution of talismans or
ofuda. Ippen's community adopted numerous other religious practices from past wandering hijiri and local traditions like the
yamabushi including mountain asceticism, pilgrimages to sacred places, retreats at sacred places hoping to receive divine messages in dreams or visions, funeral rites, and "the keeping of a register for recording the names of the faithful."
Middle Ages '' After Ippen's death, the Ji-shū sect he had led initially disbanded. Key disciples, like Ta'a Amidabutsu and
Shōkai continued to practice and promote Ippen's teachings.
Shōkai went on to found
Kankikō-ji temple in 1291. He also wrote the
Illustrated Biography of the Itinerant Monk Ippen (
Ippen hijiri-e), the oldest surviving Ippen biography. In 1292, three years after Ippen's death, Ippen's birthplace,
Hōgon-ji, was rebuilt by his disciple Sen'a and became a key Ji-shū temple. The current Ji-shū religious order regards Ippen as its founder, but its formal establishment as a sect was due to the work of Ta'a Amidabutsu and the later policies of the
Tokugawa shogunate. From an institutional perspective, the key founder of Ji-shū was Ta'a Amidabutsu Shinkyō, who reorganized the various hijiri groups into a formal organization of wandering ascetics after Ippen's passing. As part of his organization efforts, Ta'a introduced the doctrine of , which positioned monks of the Ji-shū as in relation to ordinary believers and required believers pledge complete obedience to them, as the master was seen as the karmic link between the believer and the Pure Land. It was believed that the head priest of
Shōjōkō-ji was the
de jure representative of Amida Buddha on earth, and the leader of all Ji-shū followers. As such, he was understood to hold power over salvation and could determine who was born in the Pure Land or not through the "Register of the Past," being able to withdraw salvation by simply marking certain members as in the registry. One of the most influential figures in the 20th century was Enju Kato 加藤円住 (1919–2021) abbot of the head temple of
Shōjōkō‑ji (清浄光寺). Enju Kato's teaching centers on an existential and psychological understanding of Ippen's teaching of renunciation and letting go. He interprets renunciation as the act of releasing self-centered desires, relinquishing attachment to outcomes, and suspending egocentric control. For Kato, this act of inward “letting go” is not a mere preliminary purification but a direct trigger for the manifestation of
tariki, the saving activity of Amitābha. Kato attributes decisive soteriological efficacy to what he calls “nothingness” (
mu) and “true voidness and wondrous existence” (
shinkū myōu). He understands renunciation as a method for cutting through fear, attachment, and discursive agitation so that the mind drops into this state of emptiness, which is not static but dynamic Buddha-nature. In this framework, relinquishment removes the occlusions that conceal the inherently salvific nature shared between the practitioner and Amitābha, enabling the “oneness of self and other” (
jitai ichinyo) to emerge functionally. Thus, for Kato, the salvific force of Amitābha is not only external but is also the activity of the Buddha-nature revealed through renunciation. This turns Ippen's ascetic ideal into a psychospiritual process culminating in a responsive, mysterious power that intervenes in concrete life-situations. Kato's reinterpretation of Ippen is paralleled by transformations in ritual and institutional practice at Shōjōkō-ji. The temple retains core Ji-shū practices such as distribution of
fusan slips,
odori nembutsu, and the ethos of itinerancy while also adapting them to modern forms more tailored to temple life and the lay community than the celibate itinerant asceticism of the early Ippen community. == Practice. ==