Ankokuron-ji, Buddhist temple in Ōmachi, Kamakura, Japan

Ankokuron-ji is a Buddhist temple in the mountainous area of Ōmachi, Japan, set within dense forest on a hillside. The grounds hold several structures, including a small hermitage that forms part of the original complex.

Nichiren came to Kamakura from Awa Province in 1253 and settled in a hut here. From 1257 he wrote the Risshō Ankoku Ron in the cave beside the entrance; the treatise led to his persecution and exile to Sado. His disciple Nichirō built Ankokuron-ji in 1260. A black stele erected by the Kamakura Seinendan in 1939 in front of the gate records the writing of the essay.

The temple's name comes from the Risshō Ankoku Ron, Nichiren's treatise written in the cave beside the entrance. Near the gate stands the Goshoan, a small hermitage marking where he wrote it, and the tree before it is said to have been planted by Nichiren from a Chiba sapling. The white monkey in the South-facing cave recalls his rescue by the animal, an attendant of Sannō Gongen.

The temple is reached on foot via shaded forest paths that can become slippery after rain, so sturdy shoes are a good idea. Allow enough time to walk through the grounds without rushing, as the paths wind through trees and around several buildings.

The white monkey statue stands inside the Nanmenkutsu, the south-facing cave where Nichiren is said to have hidden in 1260 after attackers burned his hut. The animal led him to safety and fed him. It is an attendant of Sannō Gongen, a kami manifesting the Buddhist god Taishakuten.