Although Heian Bukkyo (Buddhism in the Heian period) had been for court nobles, Kamakura New Buddhism spread among newly rising samurai class (especially, the Rinzai sect and the Soto sect) and among the common people (especially, the Jodo sect, the Jodoshin sect, the Ji sect and the Nichiren sect).
平安仏教が貴族仏教であったのにたいして、鎌倉新仏教はあらたに台頭してきた武士階級（特に臨済宗・曹洞宗）や一般庶民へと広がっていった（浄土宗・浄土真宗・時宗・日蓮宗）。