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127-651: Kamakura is known among Buddhists for having been during the 13th century the cradle of Nichiren Buddhism . Founder Nichiren wasn't a native: he was born in Awa Province , in today's Chiba Prefecture , but it had been only natural for a preacher like him to come to Kamakura because at the time the city was the cultural and political center of the country. He settled down in a hut in the Matsubagayatsu district where three temples (Ankokuron-ji itself, Myōhō–ji , and Chōshō-ji ), have been fighting for centuries for

254-422: A Bodhisattva , a mortal saint, or an "Original Buddha" of the third age of Buddhism . Nichiren Buddhism is practiced in many countries. The largest groups are Soka Gakkai International , Nichiren Shu , and Nichiren Shōshū . Nichiren's teachings encompass a significant number of concepts. Briefly, the basic practice of Nichiren Buddhism is chanting the invocation Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to an object called

381-645: A "circular hermeneutic " in which the interplay of the Lotus Sutra text and his personal experiences verified and enriched each other in his mind. As a result, there are significant turning points as his teachings reach full maturity. Scholar Yoshirō Tamura categorizes the development of Nichiren's thinking into three periods: For more than 20 years Nichiren examined Buddhist texts and commentaries at Mount Hiei's Enryaku-ji temple and other major centers of Buddhist study in Japan. In later writings he claimed he

508-637: A benefit from the in-group to the out-group) means "[I/we] explained [it] to [him/her/them]". Such beneficiary auxiliary verbs thus serve a function comparable to that of pronouns and prepositions in Indo-European languages to indicate the actor and the recipient of an action. Japanese "pronouns" also function differently from most modern Indo-European pronouns (and more like nouns) in that they can take modifiers as any other noun may. For instance, one does not say in English: The amazed he ran down

635-414: A distinct language of its own that has absorbed various aspects from neighboring languages. Japanese has five vowels, and vowel length is phonemic, with each having both a short and a long version. Elongated vowels are usually denoted with a line over the vowel (a macron ) in rōmaji , a repeated vowel character in hiragana , or a chōonpu succeeding the vowel in katakana . /u/ ( listen )

762-574: A distinction, insisting both concepts should be seen as practical and realizable amidst the concrete realities of daily life. He took issue with other Buddhist schools of his time that stressed transcendence over immanence . Nichiren's emphasis on "self-power" (Jpn. ji-riki ) led him to harshly criticize Honen and his Pure Land Buddhism school because of its exclusive reliance on Amida Buddha for salvation which resulted in "other-dependence." (Jpn. ta-riki ) In addition to his critique of Pure Land Buddhism, he later expanded his polemics to criticisms of

889-419: A glide /j/ and either the first part of a geminate consonant ( っ / ッ , represented as Q) or a moraic nasal in the coda ( ん / ン , represented as N). The nasal is sensitive to its phonetic environment and assimilates to the following phoneme, with pronunciations including [ɴ, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ɰ̃] . Onset-glide clusters only occur at the start of syllables but clusters across syllables are allowed as long as

1016-484: A listener depending on the listener's relative social position and the degree of familiarity between the speaker and the listener. When used in different social relationships, the same word may have positive (intimate or respectful) or negative (distant or disrespectful) connotations. Japanese often use titles of the person referred to where pronouns would be used in English. For example, when speaking to one's teacher, it

1143-408: A sentence need not be stated and pronouns may be omitted if they can be inferred from context. In the example above, hana ga nagai would mean "[their] noses are long", while nagai by itself would mean "[they] are long." A single verb can be a complete sentence: Yatta! ( やった! ) "[I / we / they / etc] did [it]!". In addition, since adjectives can form the predicate in a Japanese sentence (below),

1270-428: A single adjective can be a complete sentence: Urayamashii! ( 羨ましい! ) "[I'm] jealous [about it]!". While the language has some words that are typically translated as pronouns, these are not used as frequently as pronouns in some Indo-European languages, and function differently. In some cases, Japanese relies on special verb forms and auxiliary verbs to indicate the direction of benefit of an action: "down" to indicate

1397-723: A standing statue of Shakyamuni Buddha as an object of worship, providing funding for the construction of a Pure Land stupa in Fuji, and visiting and worshiping at the Mishima Taisha Shinto shrine which was an honorary shrine of the Hōjō clan shogunate . Nikkō regarded the latter as a violation of Nichiren's Rissho ankoku ron . 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

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1524-644: A whole by submitting a treatise entitled " Risshō Ankoku Ron " (" Establishment of the Legitimate Teaching for the Protection of the Country ") to Hōjō Tokiyori , the de facto leader of the nation. In it he cites passages from the Ninnō , Yakushi , Daijuku , and Konkōmyō sutras. Drawing on Tendai thinking about the non duality of person and land, Nichiren argued that the truth and efficacy of

1651-680: Is compressed rather than protruded , or simply unrounded. Some Japanese consonants have several allophones , which may give the impression of a larger inventory of sounds. However, some of these allophones have since become phonemic. For example, in the Japanese language up to and including the first half of the 20th century, the phonemic sequence /ti/ was palatalized and realized phonetically as [tɕi] , approximately chi ( listen ) ; however, now [ti] and [tɕi] are distinct, as evidenced by words like tī [tiː] "Western-style tea" and chii [tɕii] "social status". The "r" of

1778-421: Is topic–comment . Sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or form questions. Nouns have no grammatical number or gender , and there are no articles . Verbs are conjugated , primarily for tense and voice , but not person . Japanese adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has a complex system of honorifics , with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of

1905-595: Is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period schools. Its teachings derive from some 300–400 extant letters and treatises either authored by or attributed to Nichiren. Nichiren Buddhism generally sources its basic doctrine from the Lotus Sutra claiming that all sentient beings possess an internal Buddha-nature capable of attaining Buddhahood in

2032-682: Is also evidence of interactions between Hokkeshū and Tendai scholar-monks. 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

2159-400: Is also seen in o-medetō "congratulations", from medetaku ). Late Middle Japanese has the first loanwords from European languages – now-common words borrowed into Japanese in this period include pan ("bread") and tabako ("tobacco", now "cigarette"), both from Portuguese . Modern Japanese is considered to begin with the Edo period (which spanned from 1603 to 1867). Since Old Japanese,

2286-527: Is also used in a limited fashion (such as for imported acronyms) in Japanese writing. The numeral system uses mostly Arabic numerals , but also traditional Chinese numerals . Proto-Japonic , the common ancestor of the Japanese and Ryukyuan languages , is thought to have been brought to Japan by settlers coming from the Korean peninsula sometime in the early- to mid-4th century BC (the Yayoi period ), replacing

2413-440: Is appropriate to use sensei ( 先生 , "teacher"), but inappropriate to use anata . This is because anata is used to refer to people of equal or lower status, and one's teacher has higher status. Japanese nouns have no grammatical number, gender or article aspect. The noun hon ( 本 ) may refer to a single book or several books; hito ( 人 ) can mean "person" or "people", and ki ( 木 ) can be "tree" or "trees". Where number

2540-701: Is associated with comedy (see Kansai dialect ). Dialects of Tōhoku and North Kantō are associated with typical farmers. The Ryūkyūan languages, spoken in Okinawa and the Amami Islands (administratively part of Kagoshima ), are distinct enough to be considered a separate branch of the Japonic family; not only is each language unintelligible to Japanese speakers, but most are unintelligible to those who speak other Ryūkyūan languages. However, in contrast to linguists, many ordinary Japanese people tend to consider

2667-466: Is better documentation of Late Middle Japanese phonology than for previous forms (for instance, the Arte da Lingoa de Iapam ). Among other sound changes, the sequence /au/ merges to /ɔː/ , in contrast with /oː/ ; /p/ is reintroduced from Chinese; and /we/ merges with /je/ . Some forms rather more familiar to Modern Japanese speakers begin to appear – the continuative ending - te begins to reduce onto

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2794-509: Is correlated with the sex of the speaker and the social situation in which they are spoken: men and women alike in a formal situation generally refer to themselves as watashi ( 私 , literally "private") or watakushi (also 私 , hyper-polite form), while men in rougher or intimate conversation are much more likely to use the word ore ( 俺 "oneself", "myself") or boku . Similarly, different words such as anata , kimi , and omae ( お前 , more formally 御前 "the one before me") may refer to

2921-482: Is documentation of face-to-face public debates between Hokkeshū and Nembutsu adherents. 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

3048-417: Is important, it can be indicated by providing a quantity (often with a counter word ) or (rarely) by adding a suffix, or sometimes by duplication (e.g. 人人 , hitobito , usually written with an iteration mark as 人々 ). Words for people are usually understood as singular. Thus Tanaka-san usually means Mx Tanaka . Words that refer to people and animals can be made to indicate a group of individuals through

3175-755: Is less common. In terms of mutual intelligibility , a survey in 1967 found that the four most unintelligible dialects (excluding Ryūkyūan languages and Tōhoku dialects ) to students from Greater Tokyo were the Kiso dialect (in the deep mountains of Nagano Prefecture ), the Himi dialect (in Toyama Prefecture ), the Kagoshima dialect and the Maniwa dialect (in Okayama Prefecture ). The survey

3302-541: Is named after the Risshō Ankoku Ron ( 立正安国論 ) , Nichiren's first major treatise and the source of the first of his three persecutions. Because of it, he was almost executed, pardoned and banished to Sado Island . The essay is said to have actually been written in the small cave visible at the right of the temple's entrance. The black stele erected in 1939 by the Kamakura Seinendan which stands in front of

3429-466: Is no documentation about him in the public records of his times. Modern scholarship on Nichiren's life tries to provide sophisticated textual and sociohistorical analyses to cull longstanding myths about Nichiren that accrued over time from what is actually concretized. It is clear that from an early point in his studies Nichiren came to focus on the Lotus Sutra as the culmination and central message of Shakyamuni . As his life unfolded he engaged in

3556-539: Is often called "the most prominent Japanese 'export' religion to draw significant numbers of non-Japanese converts", by which Nichiren Buddhism has spread throughout the world. Nichiren upheld the belief that the Lotus Sutra alone contains the highest degree of Buddhist teachings and proposed a classification system that ranks the quality of religions and various Nichiren schools can be either accommodating or vigorously opposed to any other forms of Buddhism or religious beliefs. Various followers debate Nichiren status, as

3683-420: Is often called a topic-prominent language , which means it has a strong tendency to indicate the topic separately from the subject, and that the two do not always coincide. The sentence Zō wa hana ga nagai ( 象は鼻が長い ) literally means, "As for elephant(s), (the) nose(s) (is/are) long". The topic is zō "elephant", and the subject is hana "nose". Japanese grammar tends toward brevity; the subject or object of

3810-824: Is one of the National Treasures of 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

3937-498: Is preserved in words such as matsuge ("eyelash", lit. "hair of the eye"); modern mieru ("to be visible") and kikoeru ("to be audible") retain a mediopassive suffix - yu(ru) ( kikoyu → kikoyuru (the attributive form, which slowly replaced the plain form starting in the late Heian period) → kikoeru (all verbs with the shimo-nidan conjugation pattern underwent this same shift in Early Modern Japanese )); and

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4064-665: Is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people . It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan , the only country where it is the national language , and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide. The Japonic family also includes the Ryukyuan languages and the variously classified Hachijō language . There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as

4191-402: Is the version of Japanese discussed in this article. Formerly, standard Japanese in writing ( 文語 , bungo , "literary language") was different from colloquial language ( 口語 , kōgo ) . The two systems have different rules of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. Bungo was the main method of writing Japanese until about 1900; since then kōgo gradually extended its influence and

4318-471: Is used for the present and the future. For verbs that represent an ongoing process, the -te iru form indicates a continuous (or progressive) aspect , similar to the suffix ing in English. For others that represent a change of state, the -te iru form indicates a perfect aspect. For example, kite iru means "They have come (and are still here)", but tabete iru means "They are eating". Questions (both with an interrogative pronoun and yes/no questions) have

4445-405: Is why some linguists do not classify Japanese "pronouns" as pronouns, but rather as referential nouns, much like Spanish usted (contracted from vuestra merced , "your ( majestic plural ) grace") or Portuguese você (from vossa mercê ). Japanese personal pronouns are generally used only in situations requiring special emphasis as to who is doing what to whom. The choice of words used as pronouns

4572-673: The Gohonzon . Embracing Nam-myoho-renge-kyo entails both chanting and having the mind of faith. ( shinjin ). It has three pillars namely: faith, practice and study. Both the invocation and the Gohonzon, as taught by Nichiren, embody the title and essence of the Lotus Sutra, which he taught as the only valid scripture for the Latter Day of the Law , as well as the life state of Buddhahood inherent in all life. Nichiren considered that in

4699-563: The Ainu , Austronesian , Koreanic , and the now-discredited Altaic , but none of these proposals have gained any widespread acceptance. Little is known of the language's prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century AD recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial Old Japanese texts did not appear until the 8th century. From the Heian period (794–1185), extensive waves of Sino-Japanese vocabulary entered

4826-474: The Fuju-fuse persecution and numerous executions of believers in 1668. 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. Japanese language Japanese ( 日本語 , Nihongo , [ɲihoŋɡo] )

4953-462: The Japonic language family, which also includes the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands . As these closely related languages are commonly treated as dialects of the same language, Japanese is sometimes called a language isolate . According to Martine Irma Robbeets , Japanese has been subject to more attempts to show its relation to other languages than any other language in

5080-514: The Philippines , and various Pacific islands, locals in those countries learned Japanese as the language of the empire. As a result, many elderly people in these countries can still speak Japanese. Japanese emigrant communities (the largest of which are to be found in Brazil , with 1.4 million to 1.5 million Japanese immigrants and descendants, according to Brazilian IBGE data, more than

5207-619: The Tendai school which had abandoned its Lotus Sutra-exclusiveness and incorporated esoteric doctrines and rituals as well as faith in the soteriological power of Amida Buddha . The target of his tactics expanded during the early part of his career. Between 1253 and 1259 he proselytized and converted individuals, mainly attracting mid- to lower-ranking samurai and local landholders and debated resident priests in Pure Land temples. In 1260, however, he attempted to directly reform society as

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5334-738: The United States (notably in Hawaii , where 16.7% of the population has Japanese ancestry, and California ), and the Philippines (particularly in Davao Region and the Province of Laguna ). Japanese has no official status in Japan, but is the de facto national language of the country. There is a form of the language considered standard : hyōjungo ( 標準語 ) , meaning "standard Japanese", or kyōtsūgo ( 共通語 ) , "common language", or even "Tokyo dialect" at times. The meanings of

5461-496: The Zen , Shingon , and Ritsu sects. These four critiques were later collectively referred to as his "four dictums." Later in his writings, Nichiren referred to his early exegeses of the Pure Land teachings as just the starting point for his polemics against the esoteric teachings , which he had deemed as a far more significant matter of concern. Adding to his criticisms of esoteric Shingon , Nichiren wrote detailed condemnations about

5588-806: The de facto standard Japanese had been the Kansai dialect , especially that of Kyoto . However, during the Edo period, Edo (now Tokyo) developed into the largest city in Japan, and the Edo-area dialect became standard Japanese. Since the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853, the flow of loanwords from European languages has increased significantly. The period since 1945 has seen many words borrowed from other languages—such as German, Portuguese and English. Many English loan words especially relate to technology—for example, pasokon (short for "personal computer"), intānetto ("internet"), and kamera ("camera"). Due to

5715-483: The " Bodhisattvas of the Earth " who appeared in the Lotus Sutra with the vow to spread the correct teaching and thereby establish a peaceful and just society. For Nichiren, enlightenment is not limited to one's inner life, but is "something that called for actualization in endeavors toward the transformation of the land, toward the realization of an ideal society." The specific task to be pursued by Nichiren's disciples

5842-409: The "Atsuhara Affair" ("Atsuhara Persecution") occurred, culminating three years later. In the prior stage of his career, between 1261 and 1273, Nichiren endured and overcame numerous trials that were directed at him personally including assassination attempts, an attempted execution, and two exiles, thereby "bodily reading the Lotus Sutra" ( shikidoku 色読). In so doing, according to him, he validated

5969-458: The "third realm" (Jpn. daisan hōmon ) of the Lotus Sutra, staked out in chapters 10–22, which emphasize practice in the mundane world. 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 school in 1532. Initially successful it became

6096-527: The 1.2 million of the United States ) sometimes employ Japanese as their primary language. Approximately 12% of Hawaii residents speak Japanese, with an estimated 12.6% of the population of Japanese ancestry in 2008. Japanese emigrants can also be found in Peru , Argentina , Australia (especially in the eastern states), Canada (especially in Vancouver , where 1.4% of the population has Japanese ancestry),

6223-514: The 13th ("Fortitude") chapter of the Lotus Sutra in which a host of bodhisattvas promise to face numerous trials that follow in the wake of upholding and spreading the sutra in the evil age following the death of the Buddha: slander and abuse; attack by swords and staves; enmity from kings, ministers, and respected monks; and repeated banishment. On two occasions, however, the persecution was aimed at his followers. First, in 1271, in conjunction with

6350-522: The 1950s. 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. 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 and Bitchu . During this time there

6477-684: 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 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 new religious movements Reiyūkai , Risshō Kōsei Kai , and Nipponzan-Myōhōji-Daisanga stem from this lineage. Nikkō left Kuon-ji in 1289 and became

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6604-703: The Fuji district and Honmonji in Omosu district. He spent most of his life at the latter, where he trained his followers. 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

6731-486: The Japanese language is of particular interest, ranging between an apical central tap and a lateral approximant . The "g" is also notable; unless it starts a sentence, it may be pronounced [ ŋ ] , in the Kanto prestige dialect and in other eastern dialects. The phonotactics of Japanese are relatively simple. The syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C), that is, a core vowel surrounded by an optional onset consonant,

6858-481: The Latter Day of the Law – a time of human strife and confusion, when Buddhism would be in decline – Buddhism had to be more than the theoretical or meditative practice it had become, but was meant to be practiced "with the body", that is, in one's actions and the consequent results that are manifested. More important than the formality of ritual, he claimed, was the substance of the practitioner's life in which

6985-624: The Lotus Sutra entails four aspects: His three-year exile to Sado Island proved to be another key turning point in Nichiren's life. Here he began inscribing the Gohonzon and wrote several major theses in which he claimed that he was Bodhisattva Superior Practices , the leader of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth . He concludes his work The Opening of the Eyes with the declaration "I will be

7112-633: The Lotus Sutra's daimoku or title which he described as the heart of the "origin teaching" ( honmon 本門) of the Lotus Sutra. This, he now claimed, lay hidden in the depths of the 16th ("The Life Span of the Tathāgata") chapter, never before being revealed, but intended by the Buddha solely for the beginning of the Final Dharma Age. A prolific writer, Nichiren's personal communiques among his followers as well as numerous treatises detail his view of

7239-541: The Lotus Sutra's teaching that all people, men and women equally, can become enlightened just as they are. His voice is sensitive and kind which differs from the strident picture painted about him by critics. Which of these writings, including the Ongi Kuden (orally transmitted teachings), are deemed authentic or apocryphal is a matter of debate within the various schools of today's Nichiren Buddhism. His Rissho Ankoku Ron , preserved at Shochuzan Hokekyo-ji ,

7366-428: The Lotus Sutra. From this early stage of his career, Nichiren started to engage in fierce polemics criticizing the teachings of Buddhism taught by the other sects of his day, a practice that continued and expanded throughout his life. Although Nichiren accepted the Tendai theoretical constructs of "original enlightenment" ( hongaku shisō ) and "attaining Buddhahood in one's present form" ( sokushin jobutsu ) he drew

7493-579: The Momoyama (1568–1615) and Edo (1615–1868) periods and many of the most famous artists and literati were drawn from their ranks. 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. Despite strong sectarian differences, there

7620-529: 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 Kanto region of Japan and these groups, after Nichiren's death, ultimately morphed into lineages of schools. Nikkō Shonin , Nichirō, and Nisshō were

7747-554: 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. 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. Most Nichiren schools point to

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7874-736: The Old Japanese sections are written in Man'yōgana , which uses kanji for their phonetic as well as semantic values. Based on the Man'yōgana system, Old Japanese can be reconstructed as having 88 distinct morae . Texts written with Man'yōgana use two different sets of kanji for each of the morae now pronounced き (ki), ひ (hi), み (mi), け (ke), へ (he), め (me), こ (ko), そ (so), と (to), の (no), も (mo), よ (yo) and ろ (ro). (The Kojiki has 88, but all later texts have 87. The distinction between mo 1 and mo 2 apparently

8001-488: The Ryūkyūan languages as dialects of Japanese. The imperial court also seems to have spoken an unusual variant of the Japanese of the time, most likely the spoken form of Classical Japanese , a writing style that was prevalent during the Heian period , but began to decline during the late Meiji period . The Ryūkyūan languages are classified by UNESCO as 'endangered', as young people mostly use Japanese and cannot understand

8128-517: The Sannō Gongen , a kami who is a manifestation of Buddhist god Taishakuten . Following the mountain path beyond the cave one reaches first, on a ridge above the entrance, the temple's bronze Bell of Peace, then the spot where Nichiren used to go every day to see Mount Fuji , the Fujimidai . From it are visible, besides the volcano, the city of Kamakura, its beach, and Hakone . Going down

8255-543: The addition of a collective suffix (a noun suffix that indicates a group), such as -tachi , but this is not a true plural: the meaning is closer to the English phrase "and company". A group described as Tanaka-san-tachi may include people not named Tanaka. Some Japanese nouns are effectively plural, such as hitobito "people" and wareware "we/us", while the word tomodachi "friend" is considered singular, although plural in form. Verbs are conjugated to show tenses, of which there are two: past and present (or non-past) which

8382-582: The arrest and attempted execution of Nichiren and his subsequent exile to Sado, many of his disciples were arrested, banished, or had lands confiscated by the government. At that time, Nichiren stated, most recanted their faith in order to escape the government's actions. In contrast, during the Atsuhara episode twenty lay peasant-farmer followers were arrested on questionable charges and tortured; three were ultimately executed. This time none recanted their faith. Some of his prominent followers in other parts of

8509-458: The cemetery lies Nichiren's funerary pavilion, which contains his ashes. . Above it, the Nanmenkutsu ( 南面窟 , South-facing cave ) is the place where Nichiren is supposed to have hidden in 1260 when attackers burned his hut down. The statue of a white monkey in it commemorates his salvation at the hands of the animal, who led him to safety and fed him. The white monkey is an attendant of

8636-724: 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

8763-532: The correct form of practice for the Latter Day of the Law ( mappō ); lay out his views on other Buddhist schools, particularly those of influence during his lifetime; and elucidate his interpretations of Buddhist teachings that preceded his. These writings are collectively known as Gosho (御書) or Nichiren ibun (日蓮遺文). Out of 162 historically identified followers of Nichiren, 47 were women. Many of his writings were to women followers in which he displays strong empathy for their struggles, and continually stressed

8890-454: The country were also being persecuted but maintained their faith as well. Although Nichiren was situated in Minobu, far from the scene of the persecution, the Fuji district of present-day Shizuoka Prefecture , Nichiren held his community together in the face of significant oppression through a sophisticated display of legal and rhetorical responses. He also drew on a wide array of support from

9017-696: The current life. There are three essential aspects to Nichiren Buddhism: After his death, Nichiren left to both his senior disciples and lay followers the mandate to widely propagate the Gohonzon and chanting the Daimoku in order to secure the peace and prosperity of society. Traditionalist Nichiren Buddhist temple groups are commonly associated with Nichiren Shōshū and various Nichiren-shū schools. In addition, modern lay organizations not affiliated with temples such as Soka Gakkai , Kenshokai , Shoshinkai , Risshō Kōsei Kai , and Honmon Butsuryū-shū also exist while some Japanese new religions are Nichiren-inspired lay groups. The Soka Gakkai International

9144-523: The effect of changing Japanese into a mora-timed language. Late Middle Japanese covers the years from 1185 to 1600, and is normally divided into two sections, roughly equivalent to the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period , respectively. The later forms of Late Middle Japanese are the first to be described by non-native sources, in this case the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries; and thus there

9271-455: The flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly, and words from English roots have proliferated. Japanese is an agglutinative , mora -timed language with relatively simple phonotactics , a pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent . Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, and sentence structure

9398-546: 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 . Soka Gakkai is the largest independent lay organization that shares roots with this lineage. Fault lines between the various Nichiren groups crystallized over several issues: The cleavage between Nichiren groups has also been classified by

9525-403: 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 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. The roots of this splintering can be traced to the organization of

9652-609: The genitive particle ga remains in intentionally archaic speech. Early Middle Japanese is the Japanese of the Heian period , from 794 to 1185. It formed the basis for the literary standard of Classical Japanese , which remained in common use until the early 20th century. During this time, Japanese underwent numerous phonological developments, in many cases instigated by an influx of Chinese loanwords . These included phonemic length distinction for both consonants and vowels , palatal consonants (e.g. kya ) and labial consonant clusters (e.g. kwa ), and closed syllables . This had

9779-420: The honor of being the sole heir of the master. All three say they lie on the very spot where he used to have his hut, however none of them can prove its claims. The Shinpen Kamakurashi , a guide book to Kamakura commissioned by Tokugawa Mitsukuni in 1685, already mentions a strained relationship between Myōhō–ji and Chōshō—ji. However, when the two temples finally went to court, with a sentence emitted in 1787 by

9906-456: The invocation and Gohonzon , comprise " the three great secret laws (or dharmas) " found in the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren Buddhism originated in 13th-century feudal Japan. It is one of six new forms of Shin Bukkyo (English: "New Buddhism") of "Kamakura Buddhism." The arrival of these new schools was a response to the social and political upheaval in Japan during this time as power passed from

10033-430: The language, affecting the phonology of Early Middle Japanese . Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) saw extensive grammatical changes and the first appearance of European loanwords . The basis of the standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo region (modern Tokyo ) in the Early Modern Japanese period (early 17th century–mid 19th century). Following the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853,

10160-458: The languages of the original Jōmon inhabitants, including the ancestor of the modern Ainu language . Because writing had yet to be introduced from China, there is no direct evidence, and anything that can be discerned about this period must be based on internal reconstruction from Old Japanese , or comparison with the Ryukyuan languages and Japanese dialects . The Chinese writing system

10287-449: The languages. Okinawan Japanese is a variant of Standard Japanese influenced by the Ryūkyūan languages, and is the primary dialect spoken among young people in the Ryukyu Islands . Modern Japanese has become prevalent nationwide (including the Ryūkyū islands) due to education , mass media , and an increase in mobility within Japan, as well as economic integration. Japanese is a member of

10414-427: The large quantity of English loanwords, modern Japanese has developed a distinction between [tɕi] and [ti] , and [dʑi] and [di] , with the latter in each pair only found in loanwords. Although Japanese is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, it has also been spoken outside of the country. Before and during World War II , through Japanese annexation of Taiwan and Korea , as well as partial occupation of China ,

10541-486: The modern period, Nichiren Buddhism experienced a revival, largely initiated by lay people and lay movements. Several denominations comprise the umbrella term "Nichiren Buddhism" which was known at the time as the Hokkeshū (Lotus School) or Nichirenshū (Nichiren School). The splintering of Nichiren's teachings into different schools began several years after Nichiren's passing. Despite their differences, however,

10668-487: 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

10795-426: 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. This long history of foundings, divisions, and mergers have led to today's 37 legally incorporated Nichiren Buddhist groups. In

10922-493: The name of 'practitioners of the Lotus Sutra.'" During this time Nichiren inscribed 114 mandalas that are extant today, 49 of which have been identified as being inscribed for individual lay followers and which may have served to deepen the bond between teacher and disciple. In addition, a few very large mandalas were inscribed, apparently intended for use at gathering places, suggesting the existence of some type of conventicle structure. The Atsuhara Affair also gave Nichiren

11049-529: The network of leading monks and lay disciples he had raised, some of whom were also experiencing persecution at the hands of the government. Throughout the events he wrote many letters to his disciples in which he gave context to the unfolding events by asserting that severe trials have deep significance. According to Stone, "By standing firm under interrogation, the Atsuhara peasants had proved their faith in Nichiren's eyes, graduating in his estimation from 'ignorant people' to devotees meriting equally with himself

11176-463: The ninth century, Japanese rulers decreed that the Lotus Sūtra be recited in temples for its "nation-saving" qualities. It was the most frequently read and recited sutra by the literate lay class and its message was disseminated widely through art, folk tales, music, and theater. It was commonly held that it had powers to bestow spiritual and worldly benefits to individuals. However, even Mount Hiei ,

11303-526: The nobility to a shogunate military dictatorship led by the Minamoto clan and later to the Hōjō clan . A prevailing pessimism existed associated with the perceived arrival of the Age of the Latter Day of the Law . The era was marked by an intertwining relationship between Buddhist schools and the state which included clerical corruption. By Nichiren's time the Lotus Sūtra was firmly established in Japan. From

11430-425: The only strict rule of word order is that the verb must be placed at the end of a sentence (possibly followed by sentence-end particles). This is because Japanese sentence elements are marked with particles that identify their grammatical functions. The basic sentence structure is topic–comment . For example, Kochira wa Tanaka-san desu ( こちらは田中さんです ). kochira ("this") is the topic of the sentence, indicated by

11557-526: The opportunity to better define what was to become Nichiren Buddhism. He stressed that meeting great trials was a part of the practice of the Lotus Sutra; the great persecutions of Atsuhara were not results of karmic retribution but were the historical unfolding of the Buddhist Dharma. The vague "single good of the true vehicle" which he advocated in the Risshō ankoku ron now took final form as chanting

11684-515: 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." 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 ,

11811-554: 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. Nikkō accused Sanenaga of unorthodox practices deemed to be heretical such as crafting

11938-470: The out-group gives a benefit to the in-group, and "up" to indicate the in-group gives a benefit to the out-group. Here, the in-group includes the speaker and the out-group does not, and their boundary depends on context. For example, oshiete moratta ( 教えてもらった ) (literally, "explaining got" with a benefit from the out-group to the in-group) means "[he/she/they] explained [it] to [me/us]". Similarly, oshiete ageta ( 教えてあげた ) (literally, "explaining gave" with

12065-415: The particle wa . The verb desu is a copula , commonly translated as "to be" or "it is" (though there are other verbs that can be translated as "to be"), though technically it holds no meaning and is used to give a sentence 'politeness'. As a phrase, Tanaka-san desu is the comment. This sentence literally translates to "As for this person, (it) is Mx Tanaka." Thus Japanese, like many other Asian languages,

12192-405: The people's religious practice will be expressed in the outer conditions of their land and society. He thereby associated the natural disasters of his age with the nation's attachment to inferior teachings, predicted foreign invasion and internal rebellion, and called for the return to legitimate dharma to protect the country. Although the role of Buddhism in "nation-protection" ( chingo kokka )

12319-581: The pillar of Japan; I will be the eyes of Japan; I will be the vessel of Japan. Inviolable shall remain these vows!" His thinking now went beyond theories of karmic retribution or guarantees of the Lotus Sutra as a protective force. Rather, he expressed a resolve to fulfill his mission despite the consequences. All of his disciples, he asserted, should emulate his spirit and work just like him in helping all people open their innate Buddha lives even though this means entails encountering enormous challenges. Nichiren's teachings reached their full maturity between

12446-511: The prayers and rituals of Tendai and Shingon priests? He eventually concluded that the highest teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha ( c.  563 – c.  483 BC ) were to be found in the Lotus Sutra . Throughout his career Nichiren carried his personal copy of the Lotus Sutra which he continually annotated. The mantra he expounded on 28 April 1253, known as the Daimoku or Odaimoku , Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō , expresses his devotion to

12573-481: The proposed larger Altaic family, or to various Southeast Asian languages , especially Austronesian . None of these proposals have gained wide acceptance (and the Altaic family itself is now considered controversial). As it stands, only the link to Ryukyuan has wide support. Other theories view the Japanese language as an early creole language formed through inputs from at least two distinct language groups, or as

12700-459: The same structure as affirmative sentences, but with intonation rising at the end. In the formal register, the question particle -ka is added. For example, ii desu ( いいです ) "It is OK" becomes ii desu-ka ( いいですか。 ) "Is it OK?". In a more informal tone sometimes the particle -no ( の ) is added instead to show a personal interest of the speaker: Dōshite konai-no? "Why aren't (you) coming?". Some simple queries are formed simply by mentioning

12827-455: The seat of Tiantai Lotus Sutra devotion, had come to adopt an eclectic assortment of esoteric rituals and Pure Land practices as " expedient means " to understand the sutra itself. Nichiren developed his thinking in this midst of confusing Lotus Sutra practices and a competing array of other "Old Buddhism" and "New Buddhism" schools. The biographical development of his thinking is sourced almost entirely from his extant writings as there

12954-426: 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. By the third anniversary of Nichiren's passing (13 October 1284), these arrangements seemed to have broken down. Nikkō claimed that

13081-509: The shogunate's tribunals Myōhō–ji won the right to claim to be the place where Nichiren had had his hermitage. It appears that Ankokuron-ji did not participate in the trial because the government's official position was that Nichiren had first his hut there when he first arrived in Kamakura, but that he later made another near Myōhō–ji after he came back from his exile in Izu in 1263. Ankokuron-ji

13208-595: 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

13335-402: The so-called Itchi (meaning unity or harmony) and Shoretsu (a contraction of two words meaning superior/inferior) lineages. 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. Animosity and discord among the six senior disciples started after

13462-439: The speaker, the listener, and persons mentioned. The Japanese writing system combines Chinese characters , known as kanji ( 漢字 , ' Han characters') , with two unique syllabaries (or moraic scripts) derived by the Japanese from the more complex Chinese characters: hiragana ( ひらがな or 平仮名 , 'simple characters') and katakana ( カタカナ or 片仮名 , 'partial characters'). Latin script ( rōmaji ローマ字 )

13589-501: The spiritual and material aspects are interrelated. He considered conditions in the world to be a reflection of the conditions of the inner lives of people; the premise of his first major remonstrance, Rissho Ankoku Ron (Establishing The Correct Teaching for the Peace of The Land), is that if a nation abandons heretical forms of Buddhism and adopts faith in the Lotus Sutra, the nation will know peace and security. He considered his disciples

13716-817: The state as at the time the constitution was written, many of the elders participating in the process had been educated in Japanese during the South Seas Mandate over the island shown by the 1958 census of the Trust Territory of the Pacific that found that 89% of Palauans born between 1914 and 1933 could speak and read Japanese, but as of the 2005 Palau census there were no residents of Angaur that spoke Japanese at home. Japanese dialects typically differ in terms of pitch accent , inflectional morphology , vocabulary , and particle usage. Some even differ in vowel and consonant inventories, although this

13843-507: The stone stairs the visitor returns to the entrance, where stands the Kumaō Daizenjin Sonden ( 熊王大善神尊殿 ) (an Inari shrine enshrining a samurai who served Nichiren). 35°18′41.23″N 139°33′31.41″E  /  35.3114528°N 139.5587250°E  / 35.3114528; 139.5587250 Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( Japanese : 日蓮仏教 ), also known as Hokkeshū ( Japanese : 法華宗 , meaning Lotus Sect ),

13970-481: The street. (grammatically incorrect insertion of a pronoun) But one can grammatically say essentially the same thing in Japanese: 驚いた彼は道を走っていった。 Transliteration: Odoroita kare wa michi o hashitte itta. (grammatically correct) This is partly because these words evolved from regular nouns, such as kimi "you" ( 君 "lord"), anata "you" ( あなた "that side, yonder"), and boku "I" ( 僕 "servant"). This

14097-453: The temple's gate commemorates the fact: In 1253 Nichiren arrived in Kamakura from Kominato in Awa province (Chiba) (today's Chiba prefecture), settled down here and started chanting the Lotus Sutra . This is the place where later, for three years beginning in 1257, he wrote his essay Risshō Ankoku Ron in a cave. The stone lanterns near the gate were brought here from Tokyo's Zōjō-ji , one of

14224-473: The two Tokugawa funerary temples . To their right lies the so-called Goshoan ( 御小庵 , Small Hermitage ) , built on the place where Nichiren wrote the Risshō Ankoku Ron . The old tree in front of it is said to have been planted by Nichiren himself, who had brought the sapling from Chiba. Further ahead lies the main hall , rebuilt in 1963 after having been destroyed by fire. Beyond the main hall, in

14351-419: The two consonants are the moraic nasal followed by a homorganic consonant. Japanese also includes a pitch accent , which is not represented in moraic writing; for example [haꜜ.ɕi] ("chopsticks") and [ha.ɕiꜜ] ("bridge") are both spelled はし ( hashi ) , and are only differentiated by the tone contour. Japanese word order is classified as subject–object–verb . Unlike many Indo-European languages ,

14478-577: The two methods were both used in writing until the 1940s. Bungo still has some relevance for historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many Japanese laws that survived World War II are still written in bungo , although there are ongoing efforts to modernize their language). Kōgo is the dominant method of both speaking and writing Japanese today, although bungo grammar and vocabulary are occasionally used in modern Japanese for effect. The 1982 state constitution of Angaur , Palau , names Japanese along with Palauan and English as an official language of

14605-480: The two terms (''hyōjungo'' and ''kyōtsūgo'') are almost the same. Hyōjungo or kyōtsūgo is a conception that forms the counterpart of dialect. This normative language was born after the Meiji Restoration ( 明治維新 , meiji ishin , 1868) from the language spoken in the higher-class areas of Tokyo (see Yamanote ). Hyōjungo is taught in schools and used on television and in official communications. It

14732-407: The verb (e.g. yonde for earlier yomite ), the -k- in the final mora of adjectives drops out ( shiroi for earlier shiroki ); and some forms exist where modern standard Japanese has retained the earlier form (e.g. hayaku > hayau > hayɔɔ , where modern Japanese just has hayaku , though the alternative form is preserved in the standard greeting o-hayō gozaimasu "good morning"; this ending

14859-548: The world. Since Japanese first gained the consideration of linguists in the late 19th century, attempts have been made to show its genealogical relation to languages or language families such as Ainu , Korean , Chinese , Tibeto-Burman , Uralic , Altaic (or Ural-Altaic ), Austroasiatic , Austronesian and Dravidian . At the fringe, some linguists have even suggested a link to Indo-European languages , including Greek , or to Sumerian . Main modern theories try to link Japanese either to northern Asian languages, like Korean or

14986-422: The years 1274 and 1282 while he resided in primitive settings at Mount Minobu located in today's Yamanashi Prefecture . During this time he devoted himself to training disciples, produced most of the Gohonzon which he sent to followers, and authored works constituting half of his extant writings including six treatises that were categorized by his follower Nikkō as among his ten most important. In 1278

15113-475: Was "bodily reading the Lotus Sutra ( Jpn. Hokke shikidoku )," fulfilling the predictions on the 13th chapter ( Fortitude ) that votaries would be persecuted by ignorant lay people, influential priests, and their friends in high places. Nichiren began to argue that through "bodily reading the Lotus Sutra," rather than just studying its text for literal meaning, a country and its people could be protected. According to Habito, Nichiren argued that bodily reading

15240-488: Was based on 12- to 20-second-long recordings of 135 to 244 phonemes , which 42 students listened to and translated word-for-word. The listeners were all Keio University students who grew up in the Kanto region . There are some language islands in mountain villages or isolated islands such as Hachijō-jima island , whose dialects are descended from Eastern Old Japanese . Dialects of the Kansai region are spoken or known by many Japanese, and Osaka dialect in particular

15367-521: 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

15494-735: Was imported to Japan from Baekje around the start of the fifth century, alongside Buddhism. The earliest texts were written in Classical Chinese , although some of these were likely intended to be read as Japanese using the kanbun method, and show influences of Japanese grammar such as Japanese word order. The earliest text, the Kojiki , dates to the early eighth century, and was written entirely in Chinese characters, which are used to represent, at different times, Chinese, kanbun , and Old Japanese. As in other texts from this period,

15621-474: Was lost immediately following its composition.) This set of morae shrank to 67 in Early Middle Japanese , though some were added through Chinese influence. Man'yōgana also has a symbol for /je/ , which merges with /e/ before the end of the period. Several fossilizations of Old Japanese grammatical elements remain in the modern language – the genitive particle tsu (superseded by modern no )

15748-487: Was motivated by four primary questions: (1) What were the essentials of the competing Buddhist sects so they could be ranked according to their merits and flaws? (2) Which of the many Buddhist scriptures that had reached Japan represented the essence of Shakyamuni's teaching? (3) How could he be assured of the certainty of his own enlightenment? (4) Why was the Imperial house defeated by the Kamakura regime in 1221 despite

15875-593: Was the 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. Sanenaga defended his actions, claiming that it

16002-425: Was the widespread propagation of his teachings (the invocation and the Gohonzon ) in a way that would effect actual change in the world's societies so that the sanctuary, or seat, of Buddhism could be built. Nichiren saw this sanctuary as a specific seat of his Buddhism, but there is thought that he also meant it in a more general sense, that is, wherever his Buddhism would be practiced. This sanctuary, along with

16129-571: Was well-established in Japan at this time, in this thesis Nichiren explicitly held the leadership of the country directly responsible for the safety of the land. During the middle stage of his career, in refuting other religious schools publicly and vociferously, Nichiren provoked the ire of the country's rulers and of the priests of the sects he criticized. As a result, he was subjected to persecution which included two assassination attempts, an attempted beheading and two exiles. His first exile, to Izu Peninsula (1261–1263), convinced Nichiren that he

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