[T]he official oppression of the followers of the Lotus Sūtra does not seem to end, and I am worried about what the future holds. Nevertheless, the fact that you endured the oppression till today is too surprising to be a reality. Please keep doing your best as it is preached by the Buddha that it is difficult to put faith in the Lotus Sūtra even for a moment during the Latter Age of Degeneration. This is so even though a person may be able to enter a fire without being burnt or jump into water without getting wet, even if a huge mountain were to fly to the sky or an ocean ascend to the heavens.

Emperor Hui-tsung, the sovereign of Sung China, was taken prisoner by the Mongols. Ex-Emperor Gotoba was the ruler of Japan, but he was defeated by Lord Hōjō Yoshitoki (Ukyō no Gonnotayū) and died on Oki Island as an exile. If these sovereigns had died for the cause of the Lotus Sūtra, they would have become Buddhas with their present bodies. As you know, people risk their lives for trivial matters, but no one is willing to undergo persecution for the cause of the Lotus Sūtra. Nevertheless, you have done so and experienced it yourself. How noble you are! How noble it is!

Ueno-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 46-47