Page "Religion in Japan" Paragraph 14

Another form of Buddhism known as Jodo-kyo, or Pure Land Buddhism, arrived in the Kamakura period.

Pure Land Buddhism emphasizes the role of Amitabha Buddha and promises that reciting the phrase " Namu Amida Butsu " upon death will result in being removed by Amitabha to the " Western Paradise " or " Pure Land ", and then to Nirvana.

Jodo-kyo attracted the merchant and farmer classes.

After Honen, Jodo-kyo's head missionary in Japan, died, the form split into two schools: Jodo-shu, which focuses on repeating the phrase many times, and the more liberal Jodo Shinshu, which claims that only saying the phrase once with a pure heart is necessary.

Today, many Japanese adhere to Nishi Honganji-ha, a conservative sect of Jodo Shinshu.