Ryōkan Taigu’s movement into the life of a hermit unfolded gradually, as the natural flowering of his Zen training rather than as a single dramatic break. Born in Echigo Province, he first entered monastic life and eventually undertook intensive Sōtō Zen practice under the guidance of Kokusen at Entsū-ji. After many years of training there, he received dharma transmission, which meant he was fully qualified to assume temple responsibilities and enjoy a stable clerical position. Yet this conventional path did not resonate with his temperament or his understanding of Zen. Instead of embracing institutional authority, he consistently turned away from administrative and priestly roles, regarding them as distractions from authentic practice.

Following his teacher Kokusen’s death, Ryōkan left Entsū-ji and entered a period of wandering, a traditional form of pilgrimage and spiritual testing. This angya did not culminate in a prestigious appointment but in a quiet return to his native Echigo. Back in his home region, he deliberately chose seclusion over status, settling first in a small hermitage called Gōgō-an on Mount Kugami. There, and later in an even simpler hut such as Otogo-an, he shaped a life that embodied poverty, simplicity, and distance from worldly concerns. His days were given over to zazen, calligraphy, and the composition of poetry, supported by begging rounds and the modest generosity of local villagers.

The hermit life Ryōkan fashioned was not one of grim withdrawal but of unadorned, playful presence. He avoided possessions and formal authority, yet did not sever all human ties; he was known to play with children in nearby villages and to move occasionally between huts and the homes of supporters. This pattern of quiet mendicancy, artistic expression, and contemplative solitude became his enduring way of being. In choosing anonymity over recognition and a mountain hut over a temple office, he gave concrete form to a Zen ideal: practice stripped of ornament, lived out in the open field of everyday life.