History of Japan men instead joined forces with Emperor Go-Daigo and overthrew the Kamakura shogunate. Japan nevertheless entered a period of prosperity and population growth starting around 1250. In rural areas, the greater use of iron tools and fertilizer, improved irrigation techniques, and double-cropping increased productivity and rural villages grew. Fewer famines and epidemics allowed cities to grow and commerce to boom. Buddhism, which had been largely a religion of the elites, was brought to the masses by prominent monks, such as Hōnen (1133–1212), who established Pure Land Buddhism in Japan, and Nichiren (1222–82), who founded Nichiren Buddhism. Zen Buddhism spread widely among
Shingon Buddhism important to note that, because of the interdependence between emptiness and form, Vairocana is also a representation of all collective phenomena, of the universe itself. When the teachings of Shingon Buddhism were brought to Japan, Esoteric Buddhism was still in its early stages in India. At this time, the terms "Vajrayāna" ("Diamond Vehicle") and "Mantrayāna" ("Mantra Vehicle") were not used for Esoteric Buddhist teachings. Instead, esoteric teachings were more typically referred to as "Mantranaya", or the "Mantra System." According to Paul Williams, "Mantranaya" is the more appropriate term to describe the self-perception of early Esoteric Buddhism. The primary difference between