Matsudai (末代)
Matsudai was a Buddhist monk in the late Heian Period. He was also called Fuji Shonin.
Brief Personal History
He was born in Suruga Province. It is said that he climbed Mt. Fuji a number of times.
Matsudai and faith in Mt. Fuji
As a person who performed mountain ascetic practices on Mt. Fuji and constructed Buddhist termples there, Matsudai is thought to be the founder of Mt. Fuji Shugendo. In 1149, he built a Buddhist temple called Dainichi-ji Temple on the top of Mt. Fuji to enshrine Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavairocana). He then built a Buddhist temple called Dainichi-do in Murayama (present-day Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture). Since then Murayama became the center of Mt. Fuji Shugendo, which is the reason that Matsudai is considered its founder.