Japanese lit. "school of the Flower Garland"; school of Japanese Buddhism. Corresponding to the Chinese Hua-yen school.

It was brought to Japan from China around 740 by Shen-hsiang (Jap., Shinsho). The first Japanese representative of the Kegon school was Roben (689-722). Emperor Shomu (724-748) wanted to rule Japan according to the principles of Kegon. He had the Todai-ji (Great Eastern Monastery) built in Nara, in which there is a colossal image of the buddha Vairochana (Jap., Birushana). This monastery is still today the center of the Kegon school.

The Kegon school was of extraordinary importance for the development of Japanese Buddhism. The fundamental sutra for this school, the Buddhavatamsaka-sutra (Jap., Kegon-kyo) was politically construed and taken as a confirmation of the ideal of the unity of the state and of the national-political coloration of Japanese Buddhism.

(excerpted from "The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion", Shambhala, Boston)