Full Chronology

1906
• March: Born in Obatta, Yamanashi prefecture on March 28th, third child of Bunjiro and Yoshie Ito. Birth name, Fumiaki.

1912 (age 6)
• April: Enters Akita Primary School. Excels in science, calligraphy and drawing. Shows clear signs of original thinking, mechanical aptitude, and nascent creative skills. Meticulously produces a set of dolls utilizing corn silk as hair, which win great praise locally. Also experiments with own designs for mechanical bamboo rotor toys.

1918 (age 12)
• March: Graduates from Akita Primary School.
• April: Enters Akita Secondary School.
Is initiated into the Koyoryu Byozeisho divination method, a Japanese variant of the Chinese I Ching. The tradition had been passed down through the Ito family for generations. Shinjo is taught the method by his father on the condition that he never use it for personal gain.

1920 (age 14)
• March: Graduates Akita High School.

1921 (age 15)
• May: In order to receive basic life experience, goes to work in a family friend's hardware store on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido (some 700 miles from his hometown).
• July: While in Hokkaido, learns of father's death but is unable to attend the funeral because of the great distance involved in returning home.

1922 (age 16)
• June: Returns home to Yamanashi from Hokkaido.

1923 (age 17)
• July: Moves to Tokyo, hoping to study English and pursue further studies. Initially lives with two paternal uncles. However, as they do not support his academic ambitions, he moves out and finds employment with the Central Telephone Bureau (present-day NTT), and begins attending night school. 
• September: Caught in the Great Kanto Earthquake, witnesses horrible suffering while escaping from the resulting fires.

1924 (age 18)
• April: While working full time, enters Seisoku English School.

1925 (age 19)
• March: Graduates Seisoku English School.
• April: Begins job at Taiseido photographic supply store in Kandanishiki-cho.
• July: Tokyo Broadcasting Bureau begins radio transmissions in Tokyo, and a consumer radio boom ensues. Shinjo acquires English-language diagrams for an American-made radio, and succeeds in assembling his own radios. Great demand for Shinjo-assembled radios at the Taiseido store where he worked.
The year also sees Shinjo study under the renowned portrait photographer, Toragoro Ariga.

1927 (age 21)
• January: Conscripted into military service with the Imperial Army Air Force, Fifth Regiment. Assigned to the photography department, taking aerial, and other types of photographs. Despite a love of aircraft, he feels unsuited for military life and decides to finish his two-year enlistment while continuing his photographic studies.

1928 (age 22)
• December: Honorably discharged from Fifth Regiment.

1929 (age 23)
• January: Begins job as a technician at Ishikawajima Aircraft Manufacturing Company.
• April: Joins the Japanese Divination Society in Koishikawa, Tokyo. Attends night school in divination and phrenology, receiving teacher certification.

1930 (age 24)
• March: Shinjo's employer, the Ishikawajima Aircraft Manufacturing Company, moves to the Tokyo suburb of Tachikawa and is renamed the Tachikawa Aircraft Company.

1932 (age 26)
• April: Marries Tomoji Uchida (1912-1967).

1934 (age 28)
• May: Shinjo's photograph, Afternoon in a Rural Village, wins photographic competition sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
• October: Is requested by a Buddhist monk to give instruction on the art of divination. In return, the monk offers to teach Shinjo everything he knows about Shingon Buddhism. Shinjo and the monk soon form a close friendship.

1935 (age 29)
• January: Shinjo's photograph, Morning Light, wins 2nd prize, 1st rank in the inaugural photographic exhibition organized by Tama Gako-kai association.
• April: One of Shinjo's photographs is published under the name "Nobuo Ito" alongside the poem "Light," by the famous poet Saisei Muro in the April issue of the Gendai monthly journal.
• December: Shinjo acquires an Achalanatha image reportedly made by the renowned 12th-13th century sculptor Unkei. Embodying his commitment to the Buddhist path, he enshrines it in his home and uses it as a focus of devotion for his congregation.

1936 (age 30)
• February: Resigns from the Tachikawa Aircraft Company to pursue Buddhist training.
• May: Begins religious training at Daigoji, the main monastery of the Shingon Daigo school in Kyoto.
• June: First son dies of illness aged 22 months.

1937 (age 31)
• January: Completes a wood relief of a half-cross-legged Achalanatha figure. This is his first sculptural work.
• June: Receives permission from the Daigoji monastery to establish a branch congregation.

1938 (age 32)
• October: Establishes first official temple building, Shinchoji, as a branch of the Shingon Daigo school named Tachikawa Achala Fellowship (Tachikawa Fudoson Kyokai).
• December: Receives the priestly name Shinjo, or "True Vehicle," as well as the abbot's appellation Kongoin (the "Adamantine") from Egen Saeki, Daigoji's head priest and chief abbot.

1941 (age 35)
• March: Appointed special head priest of the Johoin temple in Murayama, Tokyo.

1942 (age 36)
• April: Legally changes name from Fumiaki to Shinjo. Birth of third daughter, who later succeeds him. Enters Tokyo Acupuncture and Moxibustion School and studies anatomy, which later proves useful for his sculptural work.

1943 (age 37)
• March: Completes Dharma transmission training (Sk. abisheka) at Daigoji monastery and is recognized by the Daigo school of Shingon Buddhism as an Acharya, a full-fledged master.

1945 (age 39)
• April: Wife, Tomoji and children evacuated to Yamanashi, while Shinjo remains in Tachikawa until the end of the war.

1946 (age 40)
• February: Tachikawa Achala Fellowship officially branches off from the Shingon school and becomes an independent Buddhist order.

1951 (age 45)
• May: The order restructures and officially changes its name to Shinnyo-en ("Borderless Garden of Shinnyo"). Tomoji Ito is appointed administrative head, while Shinjo takes the spiritual title of Kyoshu ("teaching master").

1952 (age 46)
• July: Second son dies at age 15 after year-long illness.

1956 (age 50)
• November: Inspired by a passage in the Great Parinirvana Sutra, Shinjo decides to create a Parinirvana image of Shakyamuni as the primary Buddhist figure for a new training hall. Resolves to sculpt the statue himself after the commission is declined by a professional artist.
• December: Completes 5:1 scale model of what became the Great Parinirvana Image.

1957 (age 51)
• January: Begins sculpting the large-scale Great Parinirvana Image. Works continually with assistance from carpenters and congregation volunteers.
• March: Completes the Great Parinirvana Image.
• November: Enshrinement of the Great Parinirvana Image.

1958 (age 52)
• July: Begins second image of Shakyamuni's Parinirvana (Length: 9 feet/275 cm) for enshrinement in Chozenji temple, Ibaraki prefecture.
• August: Completes the image and holds dedication ceremony.

1960 (age 54)
• March: Taken ill with pneumonia. Doctors expect the illness to be fatal, however Shinjo recovers in one month.
• August: Begins third Parinirvana Image (Length: 6 feet/183 cm) for enshrinement at the central Tokyo branch temple in Meguro ward.

1963 (age 57)
• May: Dedication ceremony held for a fourth Parinirvana Image (Length: 5.5 feet/168 cm). Enshrined as the primary Buddha image at Akita branch temple.

1964 (age 58)
• April: First collection of sonouta, short teaching verses by Shinjo, is published.
• May: Completes his fifth Parinirvana Image (Length: 5.5 feet/168 cm). Dedication ceremony held at the order's western Japan temple located in the city of Ashiya, near Osaka.

1965 (age 59)
• April: Shinjo's mother dies aged 87.

1966 (age 60)
• July: Buddhist relics presented to Shinnyo-en by the Thai monastery of Wat Paknam.
• November: Becomes a Japanese delegate to the 8th conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists being held in Thailand. Visits India after conference.

1967 (age 61)
• June: Leads a delegation to Europe for international goodwill and religious exchange, visiting Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Italy and Israel. Schedule includes lectures at universities in Scandinavia and Vatican meeting with Pope Paul VI. Presents small scale Parinirvana Image to the Vatican and other groups visited on the trip. Returns to Japan in July.
• August: Shinjo's wife and the head of the Shinnyo-en order, Tomoji, dies suddenly at age 55. Shinjo begins modifications on the original Great Parinirvana Image.

1968 (age 62)
• May: Begins Prince Shotoku sculpture at request of the city government of Ashiya, a western Japanese city, for presentation to its sister city of Montebello, California. 
• November: The Great Parinirvana Image and a new Achalanatha statue created by Shinjo are enshrined as the primary Buddhist images at Shinnyo-en's reconstructed head temple complex in Tachikawa, Japan.

1970 (age 64)
• October: Made honorary citizen of Montebello, California, and presented with the key to the city.

1976 (age 70)
• May: Presides over ceremonies at Daigoji monastery to commemorate Daigoji's 1100th anniversary.
• November: Tendai Buddhist regional leader and Chusonji head priest, Toko Kon, enshrines a Parinirvana image made by Shinjo at Chusonji, one of the oldest Tendai monastic complexes in Japan.

1978 (age 73)
• October: Visits Thailand, holding discussions with leading Theravadan Buddhist monks.

1979 (age 73)
• June: Visits Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, Spain, and France to promote religious exchange.

1980 (age 74)
• May: Mission to Hawaii and the mainland United States.

1984 (age 78)
• April: Officiates at Daigoji ceremonies commemorating the 1150th anniversary of the death of Kukai, the founder of Shingon Buddhism.

1985 (age 79)
• December: Presents a small Parinirvana Image to Eiheiji, the headquarters of the Soto Zen school.

1986 (age 80)
• March: Celebration held at Tachikawa Shinnyo-en headquarters honoring the congregation's 50th anniversary and Shinjo's 80th birthday.

1987 (age 81)
• February: Receives honorary award from Uppsala University, Sweden.

1989 (age 83)
• July: Dies peacefully at age 83 from natural causes.