who was his disciple, believed that it is Amitabha’s
power that leads people to enlightenment in the Pure
Land and that infuses them with nenbutsupractice and
FAITH(shinjin). Ippen, an itinerant Pure Land holy
man, considered the nenbutsuan act wherein the Bud-
dha and the believer merge, and he spread the nenbutsu
widely through distribution of amulets inscribed with
it. Honen’s initiatives inspired an independent Pure
Land movement, but also provoked a harsh reaction
from established temples and monasteries, resulting in
his banishment from Kyoto for four years. Shinran’s
following, which grew to be a mass movement two cen-
turies later, was distinctive in that its clergy, in accord
with his example, forsook Buddhism’s clerical celibacy,
and married and begot families. And Ippen’s activities
led to an extensive network of dojo (congregational
meeting places) of nenbutsupractitioners.
Zen, the second form of Kamakura Buddhism, con-
sists of the Rinzai school, founded by Eisai (or Yosai,
1141–1215) and others, and the Sotoschool, begun by
DOGEN(1200–1253). Both were monks on Mount
Hiei, and both traveled to China for further training
in monasteries. Each emphasized Zen meditation as a
crucial religious practice, though for somewhat differ-
ent reasons. Eisai considered Tendai Buddhism on
Mount Hiei to be in decline, and he sought to revital-
ize it by introducing China’s method of Zen training
(and also by emphasizing clerical precepts anew). But
Mount Hiei rejected his initiatives. Eisai, nonetheless,
found an ally in the recently established warrior gov-
ernment, which first supported him as a Zen master
in the city of Kamakura and later sponsored his new
Zen monastery, Kenninji, in Kyoto. These institutions,
along with others established by subsequent Chinese
and Japanese masters, became the basis for the Rinzai
branch of Zen. Dogen, for his part, also trained on
Mount Hiei and then at Kenninji before traveling to
China. He regarded the Zen method he learned there
as Buddhism’s most authentic form, and upon re-
turning to Japan he quickly built a following around
it, separate from his previous affiliations. Eventually he
received patronage from a regional lord who enabled
him to establish a monastery, Eiheiji, in the remote
province of Echizen. The monastic rules and routines
that Dogen formulated there became the starting point
of SotoZen in Japan. At the heart of his teaching and
monastic community was Zen MEDITATION, which he
considered the very practice of enlightenment.
Nichiren Buddhism, known widely in medieval
times as the Hokkeshu, or Lotus school, comprises the
third tradition of Kamakura Buddhism, which is
named after its founder NICHIREN(1222–1282). Nichi-
ren was active somewhat later than the other Ka-
makura founders, but like most of them he was trained
for a period in Tendai Buddhism on Mount Hiei. Early
in his career he was exposed to various forms of Bud-
dhism including Pure Land, Zen, and Shingon, but on
Mount Hiei he fixed upon the Lotus Sutra,Tendai’s
central scripture, as the highest teaching. While utiliz-
ing Tendai terminology and doctrine to articulate his
ideas, over time Nichiren came to emphasize single-
minded and exclusive devotion to the Lotus,and he
promoted the practice of the DAIMOKU,chanting the ti-
tle of the sutra in the form Namu Myoho-renge-kyoas
the quintessential expression of the Lotus Sutra’s truth
and power. This practice existed in certain Tendai cir-
cles prior to Nichiren’s time, but he championed it
with a fervor surpassing all previous proponents. At
the same time, Nichiren began to criticize other forms
of Buddhism—specifically, Pure Land, Zen, Shingon,
and Ritsu. This action earned him the enmity of the
warrior government in Kamakura, which patronized
them. On two occasions the government banished
Nichiren to remote parts of Japan as punishment.
These events marginalized Nichiren and his following,
even as he continued to attract believers, including a
significant number of women, to his Lotus teachings.Kamakura Buddhism as a scholarly category
The classification of the Pure Land, Zen, and Nichiren
movements as Kamakura Buddhism occurred largely
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Scholars then began to identify Kamakura times as a
period of significant and lasting change in Japanese re-
ligion. To highlight this change they coined the terms
New Buddhism,to refer to the six schools traceable to
the Kamakura period, and Old Buddhism,to indicate
the eight schools originating in Nara and Heian times.
Scholars further attributed distinct characteristics and
orientations to New Buddhism that set it apart from
the earlier forms. Specifically, New Buddhism tended
to reduce religious practice to a single simple activity
that could be performed by most people, such as the
nenbutsu,Zen meditation, or the daimoku. New Bud-
dhism was oriented more to the salvation of regular
people than to the lofty goals and arduous lifestyle of
monastic elites. Such practices were not predicated on
a mastery of complex doctrine, but usually involved a
simple religious stance of faith, sincerity, and devotion.
Also, such practices did not require the intercession of
priests, but could be performed on an individual ba-
sis. This focus on specific uncomplicated religiousKAMAKURABUDDHISM, JAPAN