During the two millenniums after the death of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma, some worshiped Śākyamuni Buddha accompanied by Kāśyapa and Ananda as described in the Hinayāna sūtras; others worshiped Him accompanied by such bodhisattvas as Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra as He appeared in quasi-Mahāyāna sūtras, the Nirvana Sūtra, or the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra. Many wooden statues and portraits were made of Śākyamuni Buddha as He preached Hinayāna or quasi-Mahāyāna sūtras, but statues and portraits of the Eternal Śākyamuni Buddha revealed in “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra were never made. Now in the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration, is it not the time that such statues and portraits are made for the first time?

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 149