Buddhism in Japan movement to eradicate Buddhism and bring Shinto to ascendancy arose throughout the country due to the strong connections of Buddhism to the Shōguns. During the Meiji period (1868–1912), after a coup in 1868, Japan abandoned its feudal system and opened up to Western modernism. Shinto became the state religion. Within the Buddhist establishment the Western world was seen as a threat as well as a challenge to stand up to. Buddhist institutions had a simple choice: adapt or perish. Rinzai and Soto Zen chose to adapt, trying to modernize Zen in accord with Western insights, while simultaneously maintaining a Japanese
Religion in Japan removed by Amitabha to the "Western Paradise" or "Pure Land", and then to Nirvana. Pure Land attracted the merchant and farmer classes. After Honen, Pure Land's head missionary in Japan, died, the form split into two schools: "Jōdo-shū", which focuses on repeating the phrase many times, and the more liberal "Jōdo Shinshū", which claims that only saying the phrase once with a pure heart is necessary. Today, many Japanese adhere to "Nishi Honganji-ha", a conservative sect of Jodo Shinshu. Another prevalent form of Buddhism is Nichiren Buddhism, which was established by the 13th century monk Nichiren who underlined the importance