From Kosho Itagaki

In-an Ryūhan refers to a place where Kage an— a hermitage founded by Ryūkan Koji—has naturally come into being in another location. In-an literally means “the hermitage of the unseen.”

Here, in (陰) does not indicate darkness or negation, but the quiet, generative ground from which life and practice arise. It points to a way of being that does not seek visibility, authority, or recognition, yet continues steadily and without interruption.

An an (hermitage) is not an institution or organization, but a lived place—
a simple setting where practice is embodied in everyday life through sitting, working, and living.

Ryūkan Koji is a koji, a lay practitioner of the Buddha Way. In Buddhism, koji does not mean a casual follower, but one who practices seriously within ordinary life, without relying on clerical status, hierarchy, or institutional authority. A hermitage founded by a koji is therefore grounded not in rank or title, but in lived commitment and responsibility.

Ryūhan (隆版) does not mean a “second hermitage” or a subordinate branch.
Rather, it indicates that the same practice and spirit of In-an have manifested again, quietly and naturally, in another place—like a new impression printed from the same block, complete in itself, without hierarchy, duplication, or expansion.

Thus, In-an Ryūhan points to the same way of practice continuing elsewhere:
not by design or organization, but through lived realization in the midst of daily life.

30-JAN-2026