Background
Nanpo Bunshi was born in Hiuga Province (Miyazaki Prefecture), where his father, a native of Kawachi Province (Osaka Prefecture) had moved to avoid ravages of civil war. His family name was Wani and his other names were Gensho and Nampo.
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Nanpo Bunshi
Edit ProfileCareer
Initiated into priesthood under the guidance of Tentaku of the Emmyoji Temple and later studied under Ichio of the Ryuzenji Temple. Won reputation as a poet and prose writer. Succeeded Ichio as chief priest of the Ryuzenji Temple in 158І. Lord Yoshihisa Shimazu of Satsuma, attracted by his fame as a Confucian scholar, invited him to his province and made him stay at the Shokokuji and then Ankokuji Temples. In 1599, he followed Yoshihisa to Kyoto, where he lectured on classics in the Imperial Court by order of Emperor Gomino-o. Later, by order of Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, he became the chief priest of the Zenkoji Temple in Chikuzen (Fukuoka Prefecture).
