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ANKOKUINwith Tachibana Gallery EN/日本語

Gyokusenzan

Ankokuin

with Tachibana Gallery

A temple that loves nature and art

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About the temple

Seven centuries of light,
kept open.

A temple of the Nichiren school (Minobu branch) in Ichikawa, Chiba, with over 700 years of history. Since its founding in 1315, the light of the Dharma has passed through 43 chief priests.

A Nichiren temple that loves all living nature — though, truly, the sect hardly matters. Under a chief priest who is both a computer-graphics researcher and an artist, we share the Middle Way at the heart of Buddhism, free of excessive dogma or mystique.

History & lineage
Inner sanctuary
The inner sanctuary of the main hall
History700 years, 43 priestsFrom the founding in 1315 to the shrine of Katō Kiyomasa and today.Hair memorialA hundred years of gratitude to hairA rite found almost nowhere else in Japan, begun by the barbers of Nihonbashi in 1921.Café & cultural hallTachibana GalleryTea in the garden, art in the hall, markets and concerts.

Events

Recent events

All events
  1. Lecture
    Buddhism, AI and Mountaineering — You too can be captured by a cultOpen & zoom

    Ohens Yachiyo Civic Gallery, Exhibition Room 4 (2510 Murakami, Yachiyo, Chiba)

    Buddhism, AI and Mountaineering — You too can be captured by a cult

    A free two-session lecture by the chief priest (capacity 15). Everyone is unknowingly captured by something — values, prejudice, fixed ideas. Buddhism teaches the way to let go of such attachments. AI, optimising against an evaluation function, likewise gets trapped in narrow valleys and on isolated peaks — much like the attachment Buddhism describes — while climbing toward a wide horizon mirrors the human path. A cult deliberately plants attachment; knowing the difference helps us see through the many cult-like phenomena of today.

In the media

Newspapers, magazines, TV

Profiles in the Asahi and Yomiuri newspapers, features in Sanpo no Tatsujin and Gekkan Jushoku, TV Tokyo’s Nandemo Kanteidan and more.

All coverage
  • 2026.03.01
    Newspaper    The Buddhist cosmos, in CG — Masaki Nakayama, priest and CG artist in IchikawaThe Yomiuri Shimbun, Chiba edition — “Hito” column
  • Jan. 2026 issue (on sale 19 Dec 2025)
    Magazine    Beyond attachment — Ankokuin, a temple that practises the Middle WaySanpo no Tatsujin, Jan. 2026 (No. 358), Kotsu Shimbunsha — feature: Ichikawa, Motoyawata, Koiwa
  • Dec. 2025 issue
    Magazine    Hopes for an unconventional priest who preaches the Dharma through the mathematical beauty of CG artGekkan Jushoku (Monthly Chief Priest), Dec. 2025 (No. 325), Kohzansha
  • 2025.08.19
    Television    On-location appraisal: treasures obtained for freeTV Tokyo — “Kaiun! Nandemo Kanteidan”

43rd chief priest

Masaki Nakayama

Alongside the Buddhist path he works as a CG artist exploring mathematical aesthetics under the LUXOPHIA brand. From years of CG research at university he has come to see art and science as Buddhist philosophy, and teaches the value of a free perspective across every boundary.

The priest's site ↗ LUXOPHIA ↗

Access

Gyokusenzan Ankokuin

  • Address3-14-13 Ichikawa, Ichikawa-shi, Chiba 272-0034, Japan
  • Telephone047-326-3232
  • TrainsKeisei Line, Kōnodai Station — 3 min walk · JR Ichikawa Station — 15 min walk
  • ContactLINE @ankokuin is the quickest way to reach us.

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