[A]s the world degenerated and the understanding of the people deteriorated, the fine theology of T’ien-t’ai was no longer studied. As other sects grew stronger in devotion, the Tendai Sect was reduced gradually by the six sects of Nara and Shingon until it was no longer equal even to them. … [T]he farms and fiefs of the six Nara sects as well as those of the Tendai and Shingon Sects were all destroyed and the True Dharma of the Lotus disappeared. Not having tasted the delicacy of the True Dharma, such great righteous guardian deities as Goddess Amaterasu, Shōhachiman and Sannō left the land, leaving room for demons to grow in power, and this country was about to crumble.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 37