Early in the latter half of the fifteenth century, the Honganji Buddhist sect expanded across Japan through the activities of Rennyo, who became the eighth-generation monshu (chief priest); however, in 1465 the monshu was expelled from Otani Honganji Temple and moved to Yoshizaki, in Echizen, then to the Yamashina ward in the suburbs of Kyoto.
15世紀後半に入ると、第8代門主となった蓮如の活動によって本願寺教団は日本全国へと広がるが、1465年に大谷本願寺を破却されて門主は越前の吉崎、ついで京都郊外の山科区に移った。