In the Muromachi period, Rennyo, the eighth head of Hongan-ji Temple and the originator of restoration of Jodo Shinshu (the True Pure Land sect of Buddhism,) gave her followers the hanging scrolls with the script of 'Namu Amidabutsu' (a single, sincere call upon the name of Amida) and encouraged them to enshrine the scrolls at their own butsudan.
室町時代、浄土真宗中興の祖である本願寺八世・蓮如が布教の際に「南無阿弥陀仏」と書いた掛軸を信徒に授け、仏壇に祀ることを奨励した。