Taiseki-ji

Taiseki-ji temple complex 大石寺
The Hoando Main Temple
Basic information
Location	Fujinomiya-shi, Shizuoka prefecture, Mount Fuji
Affiliation	Nichiren Shōshū
Deity	Dai-Gohonzon of the High Sanctuary of the Essential Teachings
Country	Japan
Website	http://www.nichirenshoshu.or.jp/
Architectural description
Founder	Nikkō Shonin
Completed	1290

The Taiseki-ji High Sanctuary of the Essential Teachings (大石寺 (多宝富士大日蓮華山大石寺), Tahō Fuji Dainichirenge-zan Taiseki-ji), informally known as Taiseki-ji Head Temple sōhonzan (総本山) (English: "Great Rock Field") of the Nichiren Shōshū. It is located on the lower slopes of Mount Fuji in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Taiseki-ji was a land donated by Nanjo Shichiro-Jiro Tokimitsu, later founded in the year 1290 by Nikkō Shōnin, one of Nichiren's immediate disciples, and is known for hosting the venerated Dai-Gohonzon within the Hoando building complex. The land complex is visited annually by faithful believers who go on Tozan religious pilgrimages. For the most part, Taisekiji's roaming grounds are open to tourists and visitors for sightseeing, while most buildings, such as the Hoando, are solely restricted to vowed temple Hokkeko members and pilgrim believers.

Nichiren Shōshū's head temple is the administrative center, and its chief abbot (貫主, kanzu) is simultaneously the high priest (法主, Hossu) of Nichiren Shōshū. The current High Priest is Nichinyo Hayase (1935–), who assumed the position on 16 December 2005, and is the 68th in a lineage that Nichiren Shōshū traces back to Nichiren (1222–1282). The formal reference to the current high priest is commonly styled as 68th High Priest Nichinyo Shōnin in English.

Because it is the head temple of Nichiren Shōshū and therefore home of the Dai Gohonzon, Nichiren Shōshū's ultimate object of veneration, Taiseki-ji is visited by believers from all around the world who come on personal pilgrimages, to participate in regular ceremonies, or to take part in large events such as temple-group pilgrimages, workshop-like study programs, and large rally-like meetings. The temple is visited by several hundred thousand pilgrims a year, and its compound is known for several historically significant buildings, its gardens, and the old weeping cherry trees that line its tatchū (main path lined with lodging temples).