Nakayama Hokekyōji Temple

Nakayama Hokekyo-ji in Ichikawa is one of the five head temples of Nichiren-shu, the school founded by Nichiren himself between 1260 and 1264. The grounds shelter national treasures including the 17th-century Hoto pagoda, a wooden main gate and original writings by Nichiren that are designated Bunkazai. Each February hundreds of monks gather here for the hundred-day Aragyo, one of the harshest ascetic practices in Japanese Buddhism, featuring ice-cold water ablutions before dawn. Visitors stroll through a sprawling, often near-empty complex with main worship hall, Soshido, library and dense bamboo grove, encountering few tourists because the temple lies off the usual Tokyo trails.