Editing Nichiren Buddhism (section)

==Post-Nichiren development in Japan==
=== Development in Medieval Japan ===

After Nichiren's death in 1282 the [[Kamakura shogunate]] weakened largely due to financial and political stresses resulting from defending the country from the Mongols.  It was replaced by the [[Ashikaga shogunate]] (1336–1573), which in turn was succeeded by the [[Azuchi–Momoyama period]] (1573–1600), and then the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] (1600–1868). During these time periods, collectively comprising Japan's medieval history, Nichiren Buddhism experienced considerable fracturing, growth, turbulence and decline. A prevailing characteristic of the movement in medieval Japan was its lack of understanding of Nichiren's own spiritual realization.  Serious commentaries about Nichiren's theology did not appear for almost two hundred years.  This contributed to divisive doctrinal confrontations that were often superficial and dogmatic.<ref name=Matsunaga1988 />{{rp|174}}

This long history of foundings, divisions, and mergers have led to today's 37 legally incorporated Nichiren Buddhist groups.<ref name=Stone2005 /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u0sg9LV_rEgC&q=nichiren+temples+merge|title=An introduction to Buddhism : teachings, history and practices|last=Harvey|first=Peter|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521859424|edition=Second|location=Cambridge|oclc=822518354|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181011/https://books.google.com/books?id=u0sg9LV_rEgC&q=nichiren+temples+merge|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|312}} In the modern period, Nichiren Buddhism experienced a revival, largely initiated by lay people and lay movements.<ref name=Kitagawa2010 />{{rp|93–95,122}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Historical dictionary of new religious movements|last=Chryssides|first= George D.|date=2012|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810861947|edition= Second|location=Lanham, Md.|oclc=828618014}}</ref>{{rp|251}}<ref name=Hardacre1984/>

===Development of the major lineages===
Several denominations comprise the umbrella term "Nichiren Buddhism" which was known at the time as the ''Hokkeshū'' (Lotus School) or ''Nichirenshū'' (Nichiren School).<ref name=Bowring2005>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzeODCVG26UC&q=hokkeshu&pg=PA428|title=The religious traditions of Japan, 500–1600|last=Bowring|first=Richard John|date=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521851190|location=Cambridge, UK|oclc=60667980|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181007/https://books.google.com/books?id=GzeODCVG26UC&q=hokkeshu&pg=PA428|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|383}}<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0MJrFwCHJQkC&q=nichiren+shu&pg=PA166|title=World religions in America : an introduction|date=2003|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|first=Robert S.|last=Ellwood|chapter=East Asian religions in today's America|others=Neusner, Jacob, 1932–2016.|isbn=9780664224752|edition=3rd|location=Louisville, Ky.|oclc=51613938|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181012/https://books.google.com/books?id=0MJrFwCHJQkC&q=nichiren+shu&pg=PA166|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|166}} The splintering of Nichiren's teachings into different schools began several years after Nichiren's passing. Despite their differences, however, the Nichiren groups shared commonalities: asserting the primacy of the Lotus Sutra, tracing Nichiren as their founder, centering religious practice on chanting ''Namu-myoho-renge-kyo'', using the ''Gohonzon'' in meditative practice, insisting on the need for propagation, and participating in remonstrations with the authorities.<ref name=Bowring2005 />{{rp|398}}

The movement was supported financially by local warlords or stewards (''jitõ'') who often founded tightly organized clan temples (''ujidera'') that were frequently led by sons who became priests.<ref name=Matsunaga1988 />{{rp|169}} Most Nichiren schools point to the founding date of their respective head or main temple (for example, [[Nichiren Shū]] the year 1281, [[Nichiren Shōshū]] the year 1288, and [[Kempon Hokke|Kempon Hokke Shu]] the year 1384) although they did not legally incorporate as religious bodies until the late 19th and early 20th century. A last wave of temple mergers took place in the 1950s.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

The roots of this splintering can be traced to the organization of the Nichiren community during his life.  In 1282, one year before his death, Nichiren named "six senior priests" (''rokurōsō'') disciple to lead his community: [[Nikkō Shonin]] (日興), [[Nisshō]] (日昭), [[Nichirō]] (日朗), [[Nikō]] (日向), [[Nitchō]] (日頂), and [[Nichiji]] (日持). Each had led communities of followers in different parts of the [[Kantō region|Kanto]] region of Japan and these groups, after Nichiren's death, ultimately morphed into lineages of schools.<ref>''Shimpan Bukkyō Tetsugaku Daijiten'', p. 1368</ref><ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|303}}

[[Nikkō Shonin]], Nichirō, and Nisshō were the core of the Minobu (also known as the Nikō or Kuon-ji) ''monryu'' or school. Nikō became the second chief abbot of Minobu (Nichiren is considered by this school to be the first). Nichirō's direct lineage was called the Nichirō or Hikigayatsu ''monryu''. Nisshō's lineage became the Nisshō or Hama ''monryu''. Nitchō formed the Nakayama lineage but later returned to become a follower of Nikkō. Nichiji, originally another follower of Nikkō, eventually traveled to the Asian continent (ca. 1295) on a missionary journey and some scholarship suggests he reached northern China, Manchuria, and possibly Mongolia. [[Kuon-ji]] Temple in [[Minobu, Yamanashi|Mount Minobu]] eventually became the head temple of today's [[Nichiren Shū]], the largest branch among traditional schools, encompassing the schools and temples tracing their origins to Nikō, Nichirō, Nisshō, Nitchō, and Nichiji. The lay and/or [[Japanese new religions|new religious movements]] [[Reiyūkai]], [[Risshō Kōsei Kai]], and [[Nipponzan-Myōhōji-Daisanga]] stem from this lineage.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|303}}<ref name="Fogel">Joshua A. Fogel. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fDGsAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA29 ''The literature of travel in the Japanese rediscovery of China, 1862–1945''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102111552/https://books.google.com/books?id=fDGsAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA29 |date=2 January 2020 }} {{ISBN|0-8047-2567-5}}. Stanford University Press, 1996. p. 29.</ref><ref>仏敎哲学大辞典 — ''Shim-pan Bukkyō Tetsugaku Dai-Jiten'', [[Soka Gakkai]] publications. Shinomachi, Tokyo.  pp. 1365–1368</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/N/47#para-0|title=Nichiren school – Dictionary of Buddhism – Nichiren Buddhism Library|website=www.nichirenlibrary.org|access-date=15 February 2018|archive-date=6 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106193154/http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/N/47#para-0|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Nikkō (priest)|Nikkō]] left [[Kuon-ji]] in 1289 and became the founder of what was to be called the Nikkō ''monryu'' or lineage.  He founded a center at the foot of Mount Fuji which would later be known as the [[Taisekiji]] temple of [[Nichiren Shōshū]].<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|335–336}} [[Soka Gakkai]] is the largest independent lay organization that shares roots with this lineage.<ref>{{Cite book|title=New religious movements: a documentary reader|date=2005|publisher=New York University Press|editor=Daschke, Dereck. |editor2=Ashcraft, W. Michael |isbn=9780814707029|location=New York|oclc=57531548}}</ref>{{rp|119–120}}

Fault lines between the various Nichiren groups crystallized over several issues:
:'''Local gods'''.  A deeply embedded and ritualized part of Japanese village life, Nichiren schools clashed over the practice of honoring local gods ([[kami]]) by lay disciples of Nichiren.  Some argued that this practice was a necessary accommodation.  The group led by the monk Nikkō objected to such [[syncretism]].<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|335–336}}
:'''Content of Lotus Sūtra'''. Some schools (called ''Itchi'') argued that all chapters of the sūtra should be equally valued and others (called ''Shōretsu'') claimed that the latter half was superior to the former half. (See below for more details.)
:'''Identity of Nichiren'''. Some of his later disciples identified him with [[Visistacaritra]], the leader of the [[Bodhisattvas of the Earth]] who were entrusted in Chapter Twenty-Two to propagate the Lotus Sūtra. The Nikkō group identified Nichiren as the [[Adi-Buddha|original and eternal Buddha]].<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|355}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=From salvation to spirituality : popular religious movements in modern Japan |author= Shimazono, Susumu |date=2004 |publisher= Trans Pacific Press |isbn= 978-1876843120 |location= Melbourne, Vic. |oclc= 56456928 }}</ref>{{rp|117–119}}<ref name=Lopez2016 />{{rp|102–104}}
:'''Identification with Tiantai school'''. The Nisshō group began to identify itself as a [[Tiantai]] school, having no objections to its esoteric practices, perhaps as an expedient means to avoid persecution from Tiantai, Pure Land, and Shingon followers. This deepened the rift with Nikkō.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TDH-CAAAQBAJ&q=nichiren+lineages&pg=PA141|title=A cultural history of Japanese Buddhism|last=Deal|first=William E.|others=Ruppert, Brian Douglas, 1962–|isbn=9781118608319|location=Chichester, West Sussex, UK|oclc=904194715|date=2015-03-31|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181011/https://books.google.com/books?id=TDH-CAAAQBAJ&q=nichiren+lineages&pg=PA141|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|141}}
:'''The Three Gems'''.  All schools of Buddhism speak of the concept of [[Refuge (Buddhism)|The Three Gems]] (the Buddha, the [[Dharma]], and the [[Sangha]]) but define it differently.  Over the centuries the Nichiren schools have come to understand it differently as well.  The Minobu school has come to identify the Buddha as Shakyamuni whereas the Nikkō school identifies it as Nichiren.  For Minobu the Dharma is Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, the Nikkō school identifies it as the Namu-myoho-renge-kyo that is hidden in the 16th "Lifespan" Chapter of the Lotus Sutra (the ''Gohonzon''). Currently, [[Nichiren Shoshu]] claims this specifically refers to the ''[[Dai Gohonzon]]'', whereas [[Soka Gakkai]] holds it represents all ''Gohonzon''. The Sangha, sometimes translated as "the priest", is also interpreted differently. Minobu defines it as Nichiren; Nichiren Shoshu as Nikkō representing its priesthood; and the Soka Gakkai as Nikkō representing the harmonious community of practitioners.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SqwzJt9XGpoC&q=dharma+in+nichiren+shu+gohonzon&pg=PA123|title=The Buddhist experience in America|last=Morgan|first=Diane|date=2004|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=9780313324918|location=Westport, Conn.|oclc=55534989|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181010/https://books.google.com/books?id=SqwzJt9XGpoC&q=dharma+in+nichiren+shu+gohonzon&pg=PA123|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|120–123,132}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ex4pG4KuW1MC&q=nichiren+"triple+refuge"&pg=PA106|title=Buddhism in America|last=Hughes|first=Seager, Richard|date=2012|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231159739|edition=Rev. and expanded|location=New York|oclc=753913907|access-date=20 February 2022|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181013/https://books.google.com/books?id=ex4pG4KuW1MC&q=nichiren+%22triple+refuge%22&pg=PA106|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|106}}<ref>{{Cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GDFQBwAAQBAJ&q=nakayama+nichiren&pg=PA71 |title= The Goddess and the Dragon : a Study on Identity Strength and Psychosocial Resilience in Japan |first= Patrick |last= Hein |date= 2014 |publisher= Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn= 978-1443868723 |location= Newcastle upon Tyne |oclc= 892799135 |access-date= 1 November 2020 |archive-date= 20 February 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181017/https://books.google.com/books?id=GDFQBwAAQBAJ&q=nakayama+nichiren&pg=PA71 |url-status= live }}</ref>{{rp|71}}<ref>{{Cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ&q=%22origin+teaching%22+%22trace+teaching%22&pg=PA355 |title= The Princeton dictionary of Buddhism |editor=Buswell, Robert E. Jr |editor2=Lopez, Donald S. |isbn= 978-1400848058 |location= Princeton |oclc= 864788798 |date= 2013}}</ref>{{rp|582–583}}

The cleavage between Nichiren groups has also been classified by the so-called ''Itchi'' (meaning unity or harmony) and ''Shoretsu'' (a contraction of two words meaning superior/inferior) lineages.<ref name=Stone1999a>Stone, Jaqueline. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jbO_KctXdecC&dq=Shoretsu+lineage+stone&pg=PA325 Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429031822/https://books.google.com/books?id=jbO_KctXdecC&pg=PA325&lpg=PA325&dq=Shoretsu+lineage+stone&source=bl&ots=vK0sXXZ0Tb&sig=cDC21UGAiDwkAa0NC6nOIfSVoUQ&hl=de&sa=X&ei=jv7nUtr9B4jAtQa22YCgCw&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Shoretsu%20lineage%20stone&f=false |date=29 April 2016 }}, Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawai'i Press, 1999</ref>{{rp|304–366}}

* The ''Itchi'' lineage today comprises most of the traditional schools within Nichiren Buddhism, of which the [[Nichiren Shū]] is the biggest representative, although it also includes some Nikkō temples. In this lineage the whole of the Lotus Sutra, both the so-called theoretical (''shakumon'' or "Imprinted Gate") and essential (''honmon'' or "Original Gate") chapters, are venerated.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A dictionary of Buddhism|last=Keown |first=Damien|date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780191579172 |location=Oxford |oclc=574561654}}</ref>{{rp|192}} While great attention is given to the 2nd and 16th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, other parts of the sutra are recited.
* The ''Shoretsu'' lineage comprises most temples and lay groups following the Nikkō ''monryu''. The ''Shoretsu'' group values the supremacy of the essential over the theoretical part of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, solely the 2nd and 16th chapters of the Lotus Sutra are recited.<ref name="philtar1">{{cite web |url=http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/easia/nich.html |title=Nichiren Buddhism |publisher=Philtar.ac.uk |access-date=2 October 2013 |archive-date=5 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121205012223/http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/easia/nich.html |url-status=live }}</ref> There are additional subdivisions in the ''Shoretsu'' group which splintered over whether the entire second half was of equal importance, the eight chapters of the second half when the assembly participates in "The Ceremony of the Air," or specifically Chapter Sixteen (Lifespan of the Tathāgata).<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|304–366}}

==== Origin of the Fuji School ====
Although there were rivalries and unique interpretations among the early Hokkeshũ lineages, none were as deep and distinct as the divide between the Nikkō or Fuji school and the rest of the tradition.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|334}} Animosity and discord among the six senior disciples started after the second death anniversary of Nichiren's 100th Day Memorial ceremony (23 January 1283) when the rotation system as agreed upon the "''Shuso Gosenge Kiroku''" (English: Record document of founder's demise) and ''Rimbo Cho'' (English: Rotation Wheel System) to clean and maintain Nichiren's grave.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}} By the third anniversary of Nichiren's passing (13 October 1284), these arrangements seemed to have broken down. Nikkō claimed that the other five senior priests no longer returned to Nichiren's tomb in Mount Minobu, citing signs of neglect at the gravesite. He took up residency and overall responsibility for [[Kuonji]] temple while Nikō served as its doctrinal instructor.  Before long tensions grew between the two concerning the behavior of Hakii Nanbu Rokurō Sanenaga, the steward of the Minobu district and the temple's patron.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|335}}

Nikkō accused Sanenaga of unorthodox practices deemed to be [[heretical]] such as crafting a standing statue of [[Shakyamuni Buddha]] as an object of worship, providing funding for the construction of a [[Pure Land Buddhism|Pure Land]] ''[[stupa]]'' in Fuji, and visiting and worshiping at the [[Mishima Taisha]] Shinto shrine which was an honorary shrine of the [[Hōjō clan]] [[Kamakura shogunate|shogunate]]. Nikkō regarded the latter as a violation of Nichiren's ''Rissho ankoku ron''.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|335}}

In addition, Nikkō made accusatory charges that after Nichiren's death, other disciples slowly began to gradually deviate from what Nikkō viewed as Nichiren's orthodox teachings. Chief among these complaints was the [[syncretism|syncretic]] practices of some of the disciples to worship images of [[Shakyamuni Buddha]]. Nikkō admonished other disciple priests for signing their names "Tendai Shamon" (of the [[Tendai]] Buddhist school) in documents they sent to the [[Kamakura]] government. Furthermore, Nikkō alleged that the other disciples disregarded some of Nichiren's writings written in [[Katakana]] rather than in [[Classical Chinese]] syllabary.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

Sanenaga defended his actions, claiming that it was customary for his political family to provide monetary donations and make homage to the Shinto shrine of the Kamakura shogunate. Nikō tolerated Sanenaga's acts, claiming that similar incidents occurred previously with the knowledge of Nichiren. Sanenaga sided with Nikō and Nikkō departed in 1289 from Minobu.  He returned to his home in [[Suruga Province]] and established two temples: [[Taiseki-ji]] in the Fuji district and [[Ikegami Honmon-ji|Honmonji]] in Omosu district.  He spent most of his life at the latter, where he trained his followers.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|335–336}}

According to Stone, it is not absolutely clear that Nikkō intended to completely break from the other senior disciples and start his own school. However, his followers claimed that he was the only one of the six senior disciples who maintained the purity of Nichiren's legacy. Two documents appeared, first mentioned and discovered by Taiseki-ji High Priest Nikkyo Shonin in 1488, claiming Nichiren transferred his teaching exclusively to Nikkō but their authenticity has been questioned. Taiseki-ji does not dispute that the original documents are missing but holds that certified copies are preserved in their repositories. In contrast, other Nichiren sects vehemently claim them as forgeries since they are not in the original handwriting of Nichiren or Nikkō, holding they were copied down by Nikkō's disciples after his death."<ref name=Montgomery1991 />{{rp|169}}<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|336}}

In addition to using the letters to defend its claim to orthodoxy, the documents may have served to justify Taiseki-ji's claimed superiority over other Nikkō temples, especially [[Ikegami Honmon-ji]], the site of Nichiren's tomb. Even though there had been efforts by temples of the Nikkō lineage in the late 19th century to unify into one single separate Nichiren school the ''Kommon-ha'', today's Nichiren Shōshū comprises only the Taiseki-ji temple and its dependent temples. It is not identical to the historical Nikkō or Fuji lineage. Parts of the ''Kommon-ha'', the ''Honmon-Shu'', eventually became part of Nichiren Shu in the 1950s. [[Shinshukyo|Japanese new religious movements]] such as the [[Sōka Gakkai]], [[Shōshinkai]], and [[Kenshōkai]] trace their origins to the Nichiren Shōshū school and they all eventually branched from it.<ref name="Chryssides 1999">{{cite book |author-last=Chryssides |author-first=George D. |author-link=George D. Chryssides |year=1999 |chapter=New Forms of Buddhism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RXGvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 |title=Exploring New Religions |location=London |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum International]] |pages=220–223 |isbn=0-8264-5959-5}}</ref>

==== 15th century through the early 19th century ====
In the early 14th century Hokkeshū followers spread the teachings westward and established congregations (Jpn. ''shū'') into the imperial capital of [[Kyoto]] and as far as [[Bizen Province|Bizen]] and [[Bitchū Province|Bitchu]].  During this time there is documentation of face-to-face public debates between Hokkeshū and [[Nianfo|Nembutsu]] adherents.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xb3BImNUdRAC&q=nichiren+kanto+kyoto&pg=PA101|title=Jōdo Shinshū : Shin Buddhism in medieval Japan|author=Dobbins, James C.|date=2002|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press|isbn=9780824826208|location=Honolulu|oclc=48958350|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181016/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xb3BImNUdRAC&q=nichiren+kanto+kyoto&pg=PA101|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|101}} By the end of the century Hokkeshū temples had been founded all over [[Kyoto]], only being outnumbered by Zen temples.  The demographic base of support in Kyoto were members of the merchant class (Jpn. ''machishū''), some of whom had acquired great wealth.  Tanabe hypothesizes they were drawn to this faith because of Nichiren's emphasis on the "third realm" (Jpn. ''daisan hōmon'') of the Lotus Sutra, staked out in chapters 10–22, which emphasize practice in the mundane world.<ref name=Tanabe1989 />{{rp|43–45,50}}

In the 15th century, the political and social order began to collapse and Hokkeshū followers armed themselves. The ''[[Hokke-ikki]]'' was an uprising in 1532 of Hokke followers against the followers of the [[Pure Land Buddhism|Pure Land]] school in 1532.  Initially successful it became the most powerful religious group in Kyoto but its fortunes were reversed in 1536 when Mt. Hiei armed forces destroyed twenty-one Hokkeshū temples and killed some 58,000 of its followers. In 1542 permission was granted by the government to rebuild the destroyed temples and the Hokke ''machishū'' played a crucial role in rebuilding the commerce, industry, and arts in Kyoto.  Their influence in the arts and literature continued through the Momoyama (1568–1615) and Edo (1615–1868) periods and many of the most famous artists and literati were drawn from their ranks.<ref name=Kitagawa2010 />{{rp|122}}<ref name=Tanabe1989 />{{rp|50}}

Although the various sects of Nichiren Buddhism were administratively independent, there is evidence of cooperation between them.  For example, in 1466 the major Hokke temples in Kyoto signed the Kanshō-era accord (Kanshō ''meiyaku'') to protect themselves against threats from Mt. Hiei.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|304}}<ref name=Montgomery1991>Montgomery, Daniel (1991). Fire in the Lotus, The Dynamic Religion of Nichiren, London: Mandala, {{ISBN|1852740914}}</ref>{{rp|160}} Despite strong sectarian differences, there is also evidence of interactions between Hokkeshū and Tendai scholar-monks.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|352}}

During the [[Edo period]], with the consolidation of power by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], increased pressure was placed major Buddhist schools and Nichiren temples to conform to governmental policies.  Some Hokkeshū adherents, the followers of the so-called [[Fuju-fuse]] lineage, adamantly bucked this policy based on their readings of Nichiren's teachings to neither take (''fuju'') nor give (''fuse'') offerings from non-believers. Suppressed, adherents often held their meetings clandestinely which led to the [[Fuju-fuse#The persecution|Fuju-fuse persecution]] and numerous executions of believers in 1668.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gsLDwvmnt_oC&q=fuju+fuse&pg=PA150|title=Religion in Japan : arrows to heaven and earth|date=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|first=Peter|last=Nosco|chapter=Keeping the faith: ''Bakuhan'' policy towards religions in seventeenth century Japan|others=Kornicki, Peter F. (Peter Francis), McMullen, James, 1939–|isbn=9780521550284|location=New York|oclc=32236452|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181026/https://books.google.com/books?id=gsLDwvmnt_oC&q=fuju+fuse&pg=PA150|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|150}} During this time of persecution, most likely to prevent young priests from adopting a passion for propagation, Nichiren seminaries emphasized Tendai studies with only a few top-ranking students permitted to study some of Nichiren's writings.<ref name=Stone1994>{{Cite journal|last=Stone|first=Jacqueline|date=1994|title=Rebuking the Enemies of the Lotus: Nichirenist Exclusivism in Historical Perspective|url=https://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/Rebuking%20the%20Enemies%20of%20the%20Lotus%20-%20Nichirenist%20Exclusivism%20in.pdf|journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies|volume=21/2–3|pages=231–259|access-date=28 February 2018|archive-date=15 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815145551/http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/Rebuking%20the%20Enemies%20of%20the%20Lotus%20-%20Nichirenist%20Exclusivism%20in.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [[Edo period]] the majority of Hokkeshū temples were subsumed into the shogunate's [[Danka system]], an imposed nationwide parish system designed to ensure religious peace and root out Christianity. In this system Buddhist temples, in addition to their ceremonial duties, were forced to carry out state administrative functions.  Thereby they became agents of the government and were prohibited to engage in any missionary activities.<ref name="philtar1"/>  Hokkeshū temples were now obligated, just like those of other Buddhist schools, to focus on funeral and memorial services (''Sōshiki bukkyō'') as their main activity.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Death and the afterlife in Japanese Buddhism|date=2008|publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press|first=Mariko Namba |last=Walter |chapter=The structure of Japanese Buddhist funerals |others=Stone, Jacqueline Ilyse,, Walter, Mariko Namba|isbn=9780824832049|location=Honolulu|oclc=657757860}}</ref>{{rp|247}} Stagnation was often the price for the protected status.<ref name=Matsunaga1988 />{{rp|306}}

==== 19th century: From Tokugawa to Meiji periods ====
Nichiren Buddhism was deeply influenced by the transition from the [[Edo period|Tokugawa]] (1600–1868) to [[Meiji period|Meiji]] (1868–1912) periods in nineteenth-century Japan. The changeover from early modern (''kinsei'') to modern (''kindai'') was marked by the transformation of late-feudal institutions into modern ones as well as the political transition from shogunal to imperial rule and the economic shift from national isolation to integration in the world economy.  This entailed creating a centralized state, stitching together some 260 feudal domains ruled by hereditary leaders (''daimyō''), and moving from a caste social system to a meritocracy based on educational achievement.  Although commonly perceived as a singular event called the [[Meiji Restoration]], the transition was full of twists and turns that began in the [[Bakumatsu|later Tokugawa years]] and continued decades after the 1867–1868 demise of the shogunate and launch of imperial rule.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I7b_AwAAQBAJ|title=Japan in Transition : From Tokugawa to Meiji.|last1=Jansen|first1=Marius B.|last2=Rozman|first2=Gilbert|author-link1=Marius Jansen|author-link2=Gilbert Rozman|chapter=Overview|date=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|others=Marius B. Jansen and Gilbert Rozman|isbn=9781400854301|location=Princeton|oclc=884013523|access-date=1 March 2018|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181013/https://books.google.com/books?id=I7b_AwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|3–4,14}}

By this time [[Buddhism in Japan|Japanese Buddhism]] was often characterized by [[syncretism]] in which local [[kami|nativistic]] worship was incorporated into Buddhist practice. For example, Tendai, Shingon, Jodō, and Nichiren temples often had chapels within them dedicated to [[Inari Ōkami|Inari]] Shinto worship.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ybljDQAAQBAJ&q=hardacre+shinto|title=Shinto : a history|last=Hardacre|first=Helen|isbn=9780190621728|location=New York|oclc=947145263|date=2016-11-01|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181023/https://books.google.com/books?id=ybljDQAAQBAJ&q=hardacre+shinto|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|266}} Within Nichiren Buddhism there was a phenomenon of ''Hokke Shintō'' (Lotus Shinto), closely influenced by [[Yoshida Shintō]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=355|title=Hokke Shinto|website=Encyclopedia of Shinto|access-date=1 March 2018|archive-date=23 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623060740/http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=355|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Hokke Shinto: Kami in the Nichiren tradition|last=Hardacre|first=Helen|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dw9_ov-GxtQC&q=hokke+shinto&pg=PT267|title=Buddhas and Kami in Japan: Honji Suijaku as a Combinatory Paradigm|others=Fabio Rambelli, Mark Teeuwen (eds.)|pages=222–254|isbn=9781134431236|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181121/https://books.google.com/books?id=dw9_ov-GxtQC&q=hokke+shinto&pg=PT267|url-status=live}}</ref>

Anti-Buddhist sentiment had been building throughout the latter part of the Tokugawa period (1603–1868). Scholars such as [[Tominaga Nakamoto]] and [[Hirata Atsutane]] attacked the theoretical roots of Buddhism. Critics included promoters of Confucianism, nativism, Shinto-inspired Restorationists, and modernizers.  Buddhism was critiqued as a needless drain on public resources and also as an insidious foreign influence that had obscured the indigenous Japanese spirit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Of-Heretics_and_Martyrs.html|title=Zen Books Reviewed: Of Heretics and Martyrs in Meiji Japan: Buddhism and Its Persecution by James Edward Ketelaar|last=Stone|first=Jacqueline I.|website=The Zen Site|access-date=1 March 2018|archive-date=23 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023154354/http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Of-Heretics_and_Martyrs.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Under attack by two policies of the day, ''[[shinbutsu bunri]]'' (Separation of Shinto Deities and Buddhas) and ''[[haibutsu kishaku]]'' (Eradication of Buddhism), Japanese Buddhism during the Tokugawa-to-Meiji transition proved to be a crisis of survival. The new government promoted policies that reduced the material resources available to Buddhist temples and downgraded their role in the religious, political, and social life of the nation.<ref name=Collcutt2014>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I7b_AwAAQBAJ|title=Japan in Transition : From Tokugawa to Meiji.|last=Collcutt |first=Martin |chapter=Buddhism: The threat of eradication |date=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|others=Marius B. Jansen and Gilbert Rozman |isbn=9781400854301|location=Princeton|oclc=884013523}}</ref>{{rp|143,153–156}}

The policies of ''shibutsu bunri'' were implemented at the local level throughout Japan but were particularly intense in three domains that were the most active in the Restoration: Satsuma, Choshii, and Tosa. In Satsuma, for example, by 1872 all of its 1000+ Buddhist temples had been abolished, their monks laicized, and their landholdings confiscated. Throughout the country thousands of Buddhist temples and, at a minimum, tens of thousands of Buddhist sutras, paintings, statues, temple bells and other ritual objects were destroyed, stolen, lost, or sold during the early years of the restoration.<ref name=Collcutt2014 />{{rp|157,160}}

Starting in the second decade of the restoration, pushback against these policies came from Western powers interested in providing a safe harbor for Christianity and Buddhist leaders who proposed an alliance of Shinto and Buddhism to resist Christianity. As part of this accommodation, Buddhist priests were forced to promote key teachings of Shinto and provide support for national policies.<ref name=Collcutt2014 />{{rp|98}}

Nichiren Buddhism, like the other Buddhist schools, struggled between accommodation and confrontation. The Nichiren scholar Udana-in Nichiki (1800–1859) argued for a policy of co-existence with other schools of Buddhism, Confucianism, Nativism, and European religions.<ref name=Stone1994 />{{rp|246–247}} His disciple Arai Nissatsu (1830–1888) forged an alliance of several Nichiren branches and became the first superintendent of the present [[Nichiren Shū]] which was incorporated in 1876. Nissatsu was active in Buddhist intersect cooperation to resist the government's hostile policies, adopted the government's "Great Teaching" policy that was Shinto-derived, and promoted intersectarian understanding. In the process, however, he reinterpreted some of Nichiren's important teachings.<ref name=Stone1994 />{{rp|248–249}} Among those arguing against accommodation were Nichiren scholar and lay believer Ogawa Taidō (1814–1878) and the cleric Honda Nisshō (1867–1931) of the [[Kempon Hokke]] denomination.<ref name=Stone1994 />{{rp|249–250}}

After the above events and centuries of splintering based on dogma and institutional histories, the following major Nichiren temple schools, according to Matsunaga, were officially recognized in the Meiji era:
* 1874: [[Nichiren-shū]] (formerly ''Minobu monryū'').  This school's headquarters was at [[Kuon-ji]] temple and held the ''Itchi'' perspective that advocated the equal treatment of all sections of the Lotus Sutra. However, it also included five schools that maintained the ''Shoretsu'' perspective which emphasized the latter half of the Lotus Sutra: Myōmanji, Happon, Honjōji, Honryūji, and Fuji-ha
* 1876: The Fuju-fuse-ha was recognized by the government after years of clandestine operation following episodes of persecution.  In 1882 a second ''Fuju-fuse'' sect was recognized, the Fuju-Fuse Kōmon-ha.
* 1891: The five ''Shoretsu'' schools changed their names
:Myōmanji-ha became [[Kempon Hokke]] based at Myōmanji, Kyoto
:Happon-ha became Honmon Hokkeshū based in Honjōji, Niigata
:Honjōji-ha became Hokkeshū based in Honryūji, Kyoto
:Honryūji-ha became Honmyō Hokkeshū, also based in Honryūji, Kyoto
:Fuji-ha became Honmonshū in Monmonji, [[Shizuoka Prefecture|Shizuoka]]
* 1900: The [[Taisekiji]] temple of Shizuoka broke off from the Honmonshū and became Nichirenshū Fuji-ha. In 1913, this group was renamed [[Nichiren Shōshū]] which was popularized by the [[Soka Gakkai]] lay organization.  Although the latter has a sizeable membership and it is one of the important [[Japanese new religions]] (''shinshūkyō''), it is not included in many treatments of Nichiren lineages.<ref name=Matsunaga1988 />{{rp|180–181}}

=== Development in modern Japanese history ===
Nichiren Buddhism went through many reforms in the [[Meiji Period]] during a time of persecution, [[Haibutsu kishaku]] (廃仏毀釈), when the government attempted to eradicate mainstream Japanese Buddhism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ojs/index.php/transcultural/article/view/733 |title=Transcultural Studies |publisher=Archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de |access-date=28 April 2014}}{{full citation needed|date=April 2014}}</ref> As a part of the [[Meiji Restoration]], the interdependent [[Danka system]] between the state and Buddhist temples was dismantled which left the latter without its funding. Buddhist institutions had to align themselves to the new nationalistic agenda or perish.<ref name=Covell2006/>{{rp|220,226–227}}<ref name=Gier2016>{{cite book |last1=Gier |first1=Nicholas F. |title=The Origins of Religious Violence: An Asian Perspective |date=2016 |publisher=Lexington Books |chapter= Buddhism and Japanese Nationalism: A Sad Chronicle of Complicity  |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0LBhBAAAQBAJ&q=nichiren |isbn=9781498501880 |location=Lanham, MD}}</ref>{{rp|184–185}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Religious dynamics under the impact of imperialism and colonialism : a sourcebook|others=Bentlage, Björn, 1979–|isbn=9789004329003|first=Hans M. |last=Kraemer |chapter=Shimaji Mokurai: Petition in Criticism of the Three Articles of Instruction |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtY6DQAAQBAJ&q=shimaji+mokurai&pg=PA237|location=Leiden|oclc=951955874|date=17 November 2016}}</ref>{{rp|237–241}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yoshinaga|first=Shin'ichi|date=July 2009|title=Theosophy and Buddhist Reformers in the Middle of the Meiji Period|journal=Japanese Religions|volume=24 |issue=2|page=122}}</ref> Many of these reform efforts were led by lay people.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Practical pursuits : religion, politics, and personal cultivation in nineteenth-century Japan|author=Sawada, Janine Anderson|isbn=9780824827526|location=Honolulu|oclc=875895206 |page=181 |year = 2004}}</ref><ref name=Hardacre1984>{{Cite book|title=The Lotus Sutra in Japanese culture|date=1989|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|first=helen |last=Hardacre |chapter=The Lotus Sutra in Modern Japan|others=Tanabe, George J., Jr., 1943–, Tanabe, Willa J. (Willa Jane), 1945–, International Conference on the Lotus Sutra and Japanese Culture (1st : 1984 : University of Hawaii)|isbn=9780824811983|location=Honolulu|oclc=18960211 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O03rvTi0vwAC&q=meiji%20buddhism%20lay%20nichiren&pg=PA209 |quote=In all areas of Japanese religions, the trend to lay centrality is among the most conspicuous historical developments of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By lay centrality I mean an increasingly important role for laity in all aspects of religious life and a weakening of the distinction between clerical and lay status. Lay centrality characterizes the nineteenth- and twentieth-century history of both Buddhism and Shinto and is closely related to the appearance of new religious groups outside the ecclesiastical hierarchy of either tradition. Lay centrality in Buddhism was stimulated after the Meiji Restoration by haibutsu kishaku (movement to destroy Buddhism), which became the occasion for serious reform within temple Buddhism. Early Meiji Buddhism witnessed the appearance of popularizers, ecumenical thought, and moves to initiate laity in the precepts, all aspects of the trend to lay centrality.
}}</ref>{{rp|209}}<ref name=Stone2005>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/nichiren-school|title=Nichiren School|last=Stone|first=Jacqueline I|website=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=16 March 2018|archive-date=16 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216143836/https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/nichiren-school|url-status=live}}</ref>

The trend toward lay centrality was prominent in Nichiren Buddhism as well, predating the Meiji period.<ref name=Hardacre1984/>{{rp|209}}<ref name=Tanabe1989>{{cite book|last=Tamura|first=Yoshio|title=The Ideas of the Lotus Sutra, In: George Joji Tanabe; Willa Jane Tanabe, eds. The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O03rvTi0vwAC&q=meiji%20buddhism%20lay%20nichiren&pg=PA51|year=1989|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-1198-3|pages=50–51}}</ref>  Some Nichiren reformers in the Meiji period attempted to inject a nationalistic interpretation of Nichiren's teachings; others called for globalist perspectives. According to Japanese researcher ''Yoshiro Tamura'', the term "[[Nichirenism]]" applies broadly to the following three categories:
#  The ultranationalistic preoccupation with Nichiren that contributed to Japan's militaristic effort before [[World War II]].
#  Socialist activists and writers during the prewar and postwar eras who promoted a vision of an ideal world society inspired by the [[Lotus Sutra]] and according to their own views of Nichiren.
#  Organized religious bodies that were inspired by Nichiren's teachings.<ref name=Habito1999>{{Cite journal|last=Habito|first=Ruben L.F.|date=1994|title=The Uses of Nichiren in Modern Japanese History|url=http://www.hbsitalia.it/public/materiale/554.pdf|journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies|volume=26/3–4|access-date=10 January 2018|archive-date=10 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110175348/http://www.hbsitalia.it/public/materiale/554.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|424}}

==== As a form of nationalism ====
{{See also|Nichirenism}}
Both Nichiren and his followers have been associated with fervent [[Japanese nationalism]] specifically identified as [[Nichirenism]] between the [[Meiji period]] and the conclusion of [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2682|title=Revisiting Nichiren; Ruben L. F. Habito and Jacqueline I. Stone|access-date=28 January 2014|archive-date=2 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202120830/http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2682|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=kodera>{{cite journal|last=Kodera|first=Takashi James|title=Nichiren and His Nationalistic Eschatology|journal=Religious Studies|date=March 1979|volume=15|issue=1|pages=41–53|doi=10.1017/s0034412500011057|jstor=20005538|s2cid=170854567 }}</ref> The nationalistic interpretation of Nichiren's teachings were inspired by lay Buddhist movements like [[Kokuchūkai]] and resulted in violent historical events such as the [[May 15 Incident]] and the [[League of Blood Incident]].<ref>Tanaka Chigaku: What is Nippon Kokutai? Introduction to Nipponese National Principles. Shishio Bunka, Tokyo 1935–36</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalbuddhism.org/2/victoria011.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531021739/http://www.globalbuddhism.org/2/victoria011.html|url-status=dead|title=Brian Daizen Victoria, Senior Lecturer Centre for Asian Studies, University of Adelaide, ''Engaged Buddhism: A Skeleton in the Closet?''|archive-date=31 May 2013}}</ref><ref>Pokorny, Lukas (2011).[https://web.archive.org/web/20131214064924/https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffpages/uploads/dhp028/Neue_religiose_Bewegungen_in_Japan_heute_-_Ein_Uberblick_Lukas_Pokorny.pdf Neue religiöse Bewegungen in Japan heute: ein Überblick] [New Religious Movements in Japan Today: a Survey]. In: Hödl, Hans Gerald and Veronika Futterknecht, ed. Religionen nach der Säkularisierung. Festschrift für Johann Figl zum 65. Geburtstag, Wien: LIT, p. 187</ref> Among the key proponents of this interpretation are [[Tanaka Chigaku|Chigaku Tanaka]] who founded the [[Kokuchūkai]] (English: Nation's Pillar Society). Tanaka was charismatic and through his writings and lecturers attracted many followers such as [[Kanji Ishiwara]].<ref name=Habito1999/>{{rp|427–428}} Nisshō Honda advocated the unification of Japanese Buddhists to support the imperial state.<ref name=Habito1999/>{{rp|428}}<ref name=Covell2006>{{Cite book|title=Buddhism in world cultures : comparative perspectives|date=2006|publisher=ABC-CLIO|first=Stephen G |last=Covell |chapter=8: Buddhism in Japan, The creation of traditions |others=Berkwitz, Stephen C., 1969– |isbn=9781851097821|location=Santa Barbara|oclc=70136919}}</ref>{{rp|230}} Other ultra-nationalist activists who based their ideas on Nichiren were [[Ikki Kita]] and [[Nisshō Inoue]].<ref name=Habito1999/>{{rp|429}}

==== As a form of socialism ====
Nichirenism also includes several intellectuals and activists who reacted against the prewar ultranationalistic interpretations and argued for an egalitarian and socialist vision of society based on Nichiren's teachings and the Lotus Sutra. These figures ran against the growing tide of Japanese militarism and were subjected to political harassment and persecution.<ref name=Habito1999 />{{rp|425}} A leading figure in this group was [[Girō Seno'o|Girō Seno]] who formed the [[Girō Seno'o#Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism|New Buddhist Youth League]] (''Shinkō Bukkyō Seinen Dōmei'').

Originally influenced by the ideals of Tanaka and Honda, Giro Seno came to reject ultra-nationalism and argued for humanism, socialism, pacifism, and democracy as a new interpretation of Nichiren's beliefs. He was imprisoned for two years under the [[Peace Preservation Law#Public Security Preservation Law of 1925|National Security Act]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Buddhism and the political process|first=James Mark |last=Shields |page=223 |chapter=Opium Eaters: Buddhism as Revolutionary Politics |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZAYDAAAQBAJ&q=nichiren+lay+pre-war&pg=PA223 |others=Kawanami, Hiroko|isbn=9781137574008|location=Basingstoke, Hampshire|oclc=949365321|date=29 April 2016 }}</ref> The same fate was also endured by [[Tsunesaburo Makiguchi]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tmakiguchi.org/religiousreformer/asreligiousreformer/detainmentinterrogation.html|title=Tsunesaburo Makiguchi|author=Tsunesaburo Makiguchi Website Committee|work=Religious Reformer|publisher=Soka Gakkai|access-date=2 January 2019|archive-date=1 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601032720/https://www.tmakiguchi.org/religiousreformer/asreligiousreformer/detainmentinterrogation.html|url-status=live}}</ref> who refused the religious dictum of [[Shinto]] display accepted by [[Nichiren Shoshu]] for the ''Soka Kyoiku Gakkai'', his lay organization composed of primarily secretaries and teachers until it grew to become [[Soka Gakkai]] after [[World War II]].

==== Within new social and religious movements ====
{{See also|Japanese new religions}}
Several Nichiren-inspired religious movements arose and appealed primarily to this segment of society with a message of alleviating suffering salvation for many poor urban workers.<ref name=Habito1999/>{{rp|425}} [[Honmon Butsuryū-shū]], an early example of lay-based religious movements of the modern period inspired by Nichiren, was founded several years before the Meiji Restoration. [[Reiyukai]], [[Rissho Koseikai]] stemming from [[Nichiren Shu]] while [[Kenshokai]] and [[Soka Gakkai]] once affiliated<ref>Till 28 November 1991, when a [[schism]] is pronounced.</ref> with [[Nichiren Shoshu]] and the Japanese principle ''Shin''(信 ), ''Gyo'' (行), ''Gaku'' (学)"  as "Faith, Practices, Study", are more recent examples of lay-inspired movements drawing from Nichiren's teachings and life.<ref name=Habito1999/>{{rp|433}}

==== In culture and literature ====
Nichiren Buddhism has had a major impact on Japan's literary and cultural life. Japanese literary figure [[Takayama Chogyū]] and children's author [[Kenji Miyazawa]] praised Nichiren's teachings. A prominent researcher, [[Masaharu Anesaki]], was encouraged to study Nichiren which led to the work ''Nichiren: The Buddhist Prophet'' which introduced Nichiren to the West.<ref name=Habito1999/>{{rp|430–431}} Non-Buddhist Japanese individuals such as [[Uchimura Kanzō]] listed Nichiren as one of five historical figures who best represented Japan, while [[Tadao Yanaihara]]  described Nichiren as one of the four historical figures he most admired.<ref name=Habito1999/>{{rp|430–433}}