Rempo Niwa

Rempo Niwa officiated at Shunryu Suzuki's funeral.

Paul Rosenbloom interview: He (Shunryu Suzuki) said that he wanted me to study in Japan. And he knew because of the scholarly background I had that I could study. He wanted me to go to Tokyo and stay at Eiheiji Betsuin. Niwa Roshi was there. I didn’t really know what he was getting to at the time. Because, he didn’t teach much. He didn’t talk a lot about details. But, he wanted me to go to Komazawa University and study Buddhism. He wanted me to live in that temple and study at the same time with Niwa Roshi. And this is when I said no.

From the 1972 Wind Bell

page 5

page 6

From Crooked Cucumber

Chapter 9 - An Opening

Many of Shunryu's fellow priests came to say farewell: Gido, who had found his priest for America; Kishizawa's heirs Noiri and *Niwa; his helper, Sugiyama from Zuioji; Kendo Okamoto from Zoun-in; and others, none of whom would want to trade places with him.

Chapter 14 - Taking Root

Suzuki was trying to gather support in his homeland for the monastery in America. He had in mind to bring over some "good priests" who might lead the training for a year or a practice period. He considered Uchiyama, whom Grahame was studying with, and Niwa, Noiri, and *Yokoi--all Kishizawa's heirs. But there was not much appreciation there for what he was trying to accomplish, and he couldn't get any experienced priests to commit to coming. He and his ambitious plans were puzzling. "In terms of Japan, he's just a typical country priest," Yokoi said when asked what he thought after Suzuki had visited him at Komazawa.

Suzuki mentions "Niwa Roshi" in the Japan part of Peter Schneider's interview with him - rather unclear what he's talking about.

from Wikipedia page for Zuigaku Rempo Niwa Zenji

Rempo Zenji was born in Shizuoka, Japan. His father was a schoolmaster and his mother was a farmer. After graduating from Tokyo University, he became the head official in Tokei-in and later studied at Antai-ji. At the age of 50, Niwa became the 77th abbot of the Eihei-ji monastery. He also received the imperial title of Jikô Enkai Zenji (“Great Zen Master of Compassion, Ocean of Plenitude”).

An avid practitioner of zazen, he rebuilt the zendo (meditation hall) so that the young people in training could better engage in this essential practice. His dharma heirs include Gudō Wafu Nishijima and Moriyama Daigyo as well as several teachers affiliated with the Taisen Deshimaru Lineage in Europe. Zenji (literally, "Zen Master") is an honorary title given to the senior Eihei temple (Eihei-ji), headquarters of the Sōtō school, founded in the thirteenth century by Master Dogen.

Outside of Zen, he created brush calligraphy. His work was often credited to various pseudonyms. Niwa died in 1993.

There's a lot on Niwa here at Terebess