Tatsunokuchi Persecution

This is one of Nichiren Shonin’s four great Buddhist memorial services, held on the day that Nichiren Shonin was nearly beheaded at Katase Ryukou by the Shogunate’s handlers.

In the 5th year of Bun’ei (1268), a messenger came to Japan from Mongolia. At that time, the Mongols were invading the world, so the Shogunate panicked and killed the envoy.
Since Nichiren Shonin had predicted the invasion from foreign countries in his “Rissho Ankoku Ron,” he submitted the “Rissho Ankoku Ron” to the Shogunate once again now that it had become a reality.

The Shogunate once again refused to take up the issue, but instead seized the saint for causing a public disturbance and had him escorted from Kamakura to Tatsunokuchi (Fujisawa City) to have him beheaded. This was on September 12, 1271.
This was the very moment when he was about to be beheaded. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the sword that the official was swinging to behead him, and the sword was broken in half. It was a very strange occurrence.

The shogunate, horrified, canceled the execution. This is known as the Tatsunokuchi Incident (Tatsunokuchi Hounan).