Nichiren (February 16, 1222 ??October 13, 1282) was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185??333) in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myoho-Renge-Kyo in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo as the essential practice of the teaching. Various schools with diverging interpretations of Nichiren's teachings comprise Nichiren Buddhism.