Mikuni no Taifu

Mikuni no Taifu
三国太夫 (d. 1258)

    Also known as Mikuni no Tayu. The father of Nichiren, according to The Transmission on the First Cleaning Bath written by Nikko, Nichiren's immediate disciple and successor. A fisherman at Kominato in Awa Province, Japan. Nichiren publicly declared his teaching in the fourth month of 1253 at Seicho-ji temple in Awa. He left the temple immediately afterward, escaping an attack by TojoKagenobu, the steward of the area and a believer of the Pure Land teachings. Before making his way to Kamakura, he first went to visit his parents and converted them to his teaching. At that time, it is said, he gave his father the Buddhist name Myonichi (Wonderful Sun) and his mother the name Myoren (Wonderful Lotus), both of which derive from his own name, Nichiren, or Sun Lotus.