As I contemplate this, those who become the king and deities of Japan are bodhisattvas in the rank of sangen (three wisdoms) according to Hinayāna Buddhism and bodhisattvas in the rank of initial ten (jūshin) of the 52 ranks in Mahāyāna. In the six-stage practice of the Lotus Sutra, they are at the second stage of myōji-soku (notional understanding), the stage at which one hears the name of the Lotus Sūtra and thereby has faith in it, or at the third stage of kangyō-soku (perception and practice), perceiving and practicing the “five stages” after the death of the Buddha: rejoicing on hearing the Sūtra, reading and reciting the Sutra, expounding it to others, practicing the six pāramitā, and perfecting the six pāramitā. Therefore, no matter how much merit community deities accumulate, if they are not moved to believe in the Lotus Sūtra upon hearing its name and practice the spiritual contemplation of the “3,000 existences contained in one thought” doctrine, they will become former bodhisattvas who will sink to the Hell of Incessant suffering forever.

Kangyō Hachiman-shō, Remonstration with Bodhisattva Hachiman, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 262