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
Buddhism in Japan "Shibunritsu" (四分律) The was one of the six schools of Buddhism introduced to Japan during the Asuka and Nara periods. Along with the and the Risshū, it is a school of Nikaya Buddhism, which is sometimes derisively known to Mahayana Buddhism as "the Hinayana". A Sarvastivada school, Kusha-shū focussed on abhidharma analysis based on the by the fourth-century Gandharan philosopher Vasubandhu. The school takes its name from that authoritative text. 807: Saichō introduces the Tendai (Tiantai) school to Japan. Known as Tiantai (天台) in China, the Tendai school was founded by Zhiyi (智顗, Jp "Chigi") in China, c. 550. In