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
Faith in Buddhism was in the form of a permanent self. Dōgen believed enlightenment was possible in this life—even the secular life—and he did not believe in the idea of the Age of Dharma Decline. In East Asian Buddhism, there has been a strong focus on worship of the "bodhisattva" Avalokiteśvara. His cult originated in the northern borders of India, but he has been honoured for his compassion in many countries, such as China, Tibet, Japan, Sri Lanka and other parts of Southeast Asia, and among diverse levels of society. The text called the "Avalokiteśvara Sūtra" states that Avalokiteśvara will help anyone who