Kakunyo (1270-1351) is the great-grandson of Shinran

Shinran

was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino at the turbulent close of the Heian Period and lived during the Kamakura Period...

, founder of Jodo Shinshu

Jodo Shinshu

, also known as Shin Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Today, Shin Buddhism is considered the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan.-Shinran :...

 Buddhism, and the third caretaker, or Monshu

Monshu

The Monshu , or keeper of the gate is a term sometimes used in Japanese Buddhism to denote the head of a monastery, as in the case of Jōdo Shū and Tendai Buddhism, but in the case of the Nishi Honganji sub-sect of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism, it refers to the spiritual leader of the sect, and direct...

 of the family mausoleum, which gradually became the Hongwanji Temple in Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

, 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...

. He was responsible for being the first to compile information about Shinran's life, and formalizing the new Jodo Shinshu sect, while re-asserting power at the mausoleum away from Shinshu followers in the Kanto countryside. Kakunyo was an avid writer whose liturgies comprise an important part of Jodo Shinshu services, while his biography on Shinran, the is still an important source for scholars.