As an oral literature it has a long history, and it appeared in "Dainihonkoku hokekyo genki" ("Hokekyo genki") (an account of the wonders worked by the Lotus Sutra in Japan) and "Konjaku monogatarishu" (Tales of Times Now Past) in the Heian period.
説話としても古く平安時代の『大日本国法華験記』（『法華験記』）、『今昔物語集』に現れる。