[1] It's one of a group of three built near the site in Matsubagayatsu (Valley of Pine Needles (松葉ヶ谷)[2] where Nichiren, founder of the Buddhist sect that bears his name, is supposed to have had his hut.

Founder Nichiren wasn't a native: he was born in Awa Province, in today's Chiba Prefecture, but it was only natural for a preacher to come to Kamakura because at the time the city was the cultural and political center of the country.

[5] It appears that Ankokuron-ji didn't participate in the trial because the government's official position was that Nichiren had first his hut there, when he first arrived in Kamakura, but that he made another near Myōhō–ji after he came back from his exile in Izu in 1263.

[3] Because at the time of his persecution Nichiren was saved by a white monkey, believed to be a retainer of god Taishakuten, the great building behind the statue (the Taishaku-dō) is dedicated to him.

[3] Every year on February 11 the temple hosts the Daikokutōe Seiman Matsuri (大国祷会成満祭り) Ceremony during which Buddhist priests douse themselves with cold water to pray for the country's safety.