During the night on the 12th day of the 9th month in the 8th year of the Bun’ei Era (1271), I was to be beheaded at Tatsunokuchi in Sagami Province. For some unknown reason, my execution was postponed and I was sent to a place named Echi. On the 13th day it was rumored that I would be pardoned, but in fact I was exiled to Sado Island. There my execution was rumored constantly for three years, but it was not carried out in the end. I was eventually pardoned on the 14th of the second month in the 11th year of the Bun’ei Era (1274). On the 26th day of the third month in the same year, I returned to Kamakura. On the 8th day of the fourth month I met Hei no Saemonnojō, whom I told many things, including my prediction that Mongol armies would attack Japan within the year without fail. I left Kamakura on the 12th day of the 5th month in the same year and entered Mt. Minobu. I sacrificed my life solely for the purpose of repaying the favors I received from my parents, masters, the Three Treasures (the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṃgha), and my country, but I am still alive. It has been customary for wise men to live in retreat in the woods after remonstrating their countries three times in vain.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 48.