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
Why Buddhism Is True Washington Post" gave a more mixed review, stating that "while [Wright] does not make a fully convincing case for some of his more grandiose claims about truth and freedom, his argument contains many interesting and illuminating points." Why Buddhism Is True Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment is a 2017 book by journalist and evolutionary psychologist Robert Wright. As of August 2017, the book had peaked at "The New York Times" No. 4 bestseller in hardcover nonfiction. In "Why Buddhism is True", Wright advocates a secular, Westernized form of Buddhism focusing on the practice