Makuzuan hermitage at Chion’in, Kyoto. Photograph Melanie Eastburn, 2005

Rengetsu’s adoptive father, Otagaki Hanzaemon Teruhisa, was a samurai who dedicated himself to serving at the main temple of Pure Land Buddhism in Kyoto, Chion’in. Later, Rengetsu’s second husband joined Teruhisa to work at Chion’in. After her husband’s death, Rengetsu became a nun. She then took up residence in the Makuzuan, a Chion’in hermitage, along with Teruhisa and her surviving children.