Kakunyo

Kakunyo (覚如, also written as 覺如; 1271–1351) was a key figure of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism active from the late Kamakura period through the Nanboku-chō period. He was the great-grandson of Shinran and served as the third Monshu (head priest) of the influential Hongan-ji Temple in Kyoto. As head priest of the Ōtani Hongan-ji, he played a decisive role in transforming Shinran's mausoleum into a fully institutionalized Buddhist temple. He is thus regarded by modern scholars as the de facto founder of Hongan-ji as a true religious institution with a doctrinal orthodoxy and regular services.

Kakunyo was also the first to write a biography of Shinran. He was a prolific author whose works asserted the doctrinal authority of Shinran and the Hongan-ji orthodoxy over numerous deviant views and practices. Kakunyo's liturgies comprise an important part of Jōdo Shinshū services, and he is considered to have contributed significantly to the Hōonkō ceremony. Furthermore, his biography of Shinran, the Godenshō (御伝鈔) is still an important source on Shinran's life today.