A famous tourist resort “mountain of money tree”
Here is a flyer entitled “the spring trip” planned by a major travel agency. Among the twenty attractions are the “weeping cherry trees in Taiseki-ji and Geba-Zakura cherry tree in Fujinomiya City”. Published in 1992, this pamphlet was made soon after the priesthood excommunicated Soka Gakkai. Other religious shrines and temples such as the Heian-jingu Shrine, Kegon-ji Temple, Eihei-ji Temple, Saimyo-ji Temple are some of the other destination included in this travel package. This reveals that the Nikken Sect has become the “Buddhism for tourists”. Nikko Shonin must be grieving in despair as he built this Taiseki-ji as the fundamental training center of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism to save all of the people in the Latter Day of the Law.
This was not the first plan to make Taiseki-ji a tourist attraction.
After World War II, Nichiren Shoshu planned to make Taiseki-ji a resort to solve its financial problems. It was an audacious scheme as their plans were to take money to show the ruined temple which no one wanted to see. It was the second President of SGI Mr. Josei Toda who was shocked and filled with sorrow to hear this plan.
Mr. Toda immediately began to organize the group pilgrimage to Taiseki-ji by the Gakkai members to alleviate the financial burden of the head temple. Thus, it may be the natural course to be taken by the temple as they “CUT” the Soka Gakkai which had supported and managed the pilgrimages without any accidents for nearly 40 years.
On the other hand, since the priesthood began their own pilgrimages, as many as three fatal accidents have already occurred. In November 1991, a decomposed body of Mr. H, a 69 year old man from Tokyo, Umyo-ji Temple was found. Also in November 1992, Mr. I, 77 years old from Ibaragi, Honmyo-ji Temple was hit by a car behind a store on the temple grounds. Furthermore, in June 1993, Mr. T, 89 years old from Okayama, Kyukyo-ji Temple fell down the stairs of the temple and died. In each one of these accidents, every victim was an elderly person. There are no provisions at Taiseki-ji to secure the safety of the frail. How many tourists will venture into such an eerie and dangerous mountain?