In 1972, the Sho Hondo temple at Taiseki-ji, Japan, was completed. It was regarded as an important work of post-war Japanese architecture and was to be the main temple of Nichiren Shoshu, a branch of Japanese Buddhism. The temple was built by Nichiren's lay organization, Soka Gakkai but by 1991, Soka Gakkai had been deemed heretical and stripped of its affiliation and so, the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood had the Sho Hondo temple demolished in 1998.
The following pages are from a book called The Document of Human Revolution, published in 1973 to commemorate the completion of the temple. The first part of the book is a series of documentary photos of the then-president of Soka Gakkai and his family and followers. What follows from there is a large section of architectural photographs by Yasuhiro Ishimoto along with architectural drawings, floor plans and elevations. It's a beautiful production and is of course printed in gravure.
