Gempo Yamamoto was the abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

 of both Ryutakuji and Shoin-ji in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

—also serving temporarily as the head of the Myoshin-ji

Myoshin-ji

is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan. The Myōshin-ji school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism is the largest school in Rinzai Zen. This particular school contains within it more than three thousand temples throughout Japan, along with nineteen monasteries. The head temple was founded in the year 1342 by the...

 branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. A renowned Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 calligrapher, Yamamoto was a Rinzai Zen

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...

 Buddhist priest whom followed in the footsteps of the famous Master Hakuin Ekaku

Hakuin Ekaku

was one of the most influential figures in Japanese Zen Buddhism. He revived the Rinzai school from a moribund period of stagnation, refocusing it on its traditionally rigorous training methods integrating meditation and koan practice...

. According to the book Zen and the Art of Calligraphy, Yamamoto is sometimes called the "twentieth century Hakuin." Like so many prolific Zen masters throughout the ages, Yamamoto had no formal education. By today's standards Gempo would be deemed legally blind, and it was not until later in life that he was able to write and read. At the age of 25 he became ordained as a monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

, travelling during this period to various temples throughout Japan. Yamamoto is probably most remembered for his many zenga

Zenga

Zenga is the Japanese term for the practice and art of Zen Buddhist painting and calligraphy in the Japanese tea ceremony and also the martial arts.-Definition:...

paintings, which can be found hanging at Ryutakuji today.