[I]t is stated in a letter signed by Former Governor of Musashi Province, Lord Hōjō Nobutoki, directing the Province of Sado on the seventh of the twelfth month in the tenth year of the Bun’ei Period (1273):

“There is a report that Nichiren, a priest exiled to Sado Province, and his disciples are engaging in corruption. His actions are inexcusable. From this point forward, those who follow Nichiren will be punished severely. Report the names of those who disobey this order. This is by the order of Lord Hōjō Nobutoki. 7th day of the 12th month in the 10th year of Bun’ei…”

The accusation in the letter of “engaging in corruption” is equivalent to the non-Buddhists who slandered the Buddha as a corrupt man. Moreover, the Buddha encountered the nine great difficulties such as the murder of Śākya Clan members by King Virūḍhaka, enduring begging without receiving alms and cold winds without proper clothes. I encountered persecutions in which my disciples were killed. I ate snow to stay alive, and I had no clothes to protect myself from cold winds. Do these difficulties exceed those endured by the Buddha? Perhaps T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō had not endured difficulties such as these. You should know that by adding myself to Śākyamuni Buddha, T’ien-t’ai, and Dengyō, there are now four practicers of the Lotus Sūtra, one of whom is in the Latter Age of Degeneration. How happy I am that I correspond with the Buddha’s prediction, “Needless to say, more people will do so (hate the Lotus Sūtra) after my extinction.” However, it is pitiful that people in Japan are falling into the Hell of Incessant Suffering by slandering me. The details are too complicated so I will stop here before this letter becomes too involved. Please consider the issue carefully.

Hokke Gyōja Chinan-ji, Difficulty of the Practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 15