The Onikuge is said to be the living tooth of Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282). It is revered by some as a relic or sacred remains thought to benefit all beings. The tooth spoke with Brooke St. George via telephone from its residence at Taiseki-ji, the Head Temple of Nichiren Shoshu, located at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan.

Brooke St. George: Thank you for speaking with me today, Mr. Onikuge. "Living tooth" is indeed a provocative moniker. Can you describe the qualities that set you apart from a dead tooth?

Onikuge: I'm a sensitive, vascular pulp surrounded by dentin and coated on the crown with enamel and on the root with cementum. There's also a bit of healthy gum tissue still attached to me. You don't see that on a dead tooth.

I live. I love. I am.

B St.G: Nichiren passed away more than 700 years ago. Are we to believe that one of his teeth is still alive and well, receiving visitors in Japan?

Onikuge: I can neither confirm nor deny. Didn't my agent go through the whole disclosure agreement thingy with you? It's an article of faith. If people want to believe I'm Nichiren's tooth, who am I to contradict that? I am also a gifted Shakespearean actor.

B St. G: Your agent said that you were the inspiration for the dental hygiene films with the dancing, singing tooth.

Onikuge: It was ultimately a bitter experience. The project was supposed to be a live-action feature-length film. I worked with choreographers and a voice coach for six months. In the end, the lawyers couldn't agree on the back-end deal. They wanted to burn me on residuals. The producers went with an animated tooth instead of me. Ever since then, I've had trouble finding good roles. But it's my craft, you know. My passion. I did dinner theater gigs for a while, but the offers dried up. I got typecast as a bicuspid. That's hard to overcome.

B St.G: Is that when you took up residence at Taiseki-ji?

Onikuge: Look, I don't know how much I'm at liberty to say.

B St. G: Can you speak freely? Do you feel that you are in some kind of jeopardy?

Onikuge: No, it's just, y'know, I feel like a freak. They keep me under glass here. They parade people past me. Everyone wants to gawk. I feel like the Elephant Man. I just want to scream, "I am not enamel -- I am a human tooth!" Y'know, but that would destroy the whole performance, of course. So I just sit here looking holy.

B St.G: You feel exploited?

Onikuge: I do it for my fans. [sniff]

B St.G: Mr. Onikuge, Nichiren once wrote, "The reason why the body and bones of the Buddha can become wish-granting jewels is because the great precept he observed over a period of innumerable kalpas imbued his body with its fragrance and permeated his bones, so that they became jewels capable of saving all beings."

Based on this passage -- and the belief that Nichiren attained Buddhahood -- some people regard you as a wish-granting jewel. Is this a correct view?

Onikuge: That is a somewhat unrealistic expectation to place on a bone-like fragment, even one that can sing and dance like Maurice Chevalier. Look, human beings are the treasure towers described in the Lotus Sutra. These treasure towers house the relics of the Buddha. The relics of the Buddha -- the wish-granting jewels -- are within your own life. You might as well revere your own teeth as much as you revere me.

My agent is going to kill me for saying that. I can hear the contracts being renegotiated as we speak. I'm not a magic charm. I'm a centuries-old tooth who's just trying to make a living.

B St. G.: People make pilgrimages to visit you. Is there no benefit in doing this? Doesn't this bring a person closer to Nichiren Daishonin in some way?

Onikuge: You seem like a nice kid. I don't want to stomp your buzz. I've made some mistakes in my life, but I've always had my integrity. If you want to get close to Nichiren Daishonin, chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon. That's how it's done. That is the only pilgrimage you need to make.

B St. G: I appreciate your candor. Is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers?

Onikuge: I miss my jaw. He was always grinding me, the dickens, but he meant well.