Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō

The mantra is referred to as Daimoku (題目)[3] or, in honorific form, O-daimoku (お題目) meaning title and was first publicly declared by the Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren on 28 April 1253 atop Mount Kiyosumi, now memorialized by Seichō-ji temple in Kamogawa, Chiba prefecture, Japan.

[7] While the Tendai monks Saicho (767-822) and Genshin (942-1017) have been said by some to have originated the Daimoku [citation needed], the Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222-1282) is known today as its greatest propagator for popularizing it in Japan.

[13] The Lotus Sutra is held by Nichiren Buddhists,[14] as well as practitioners of the Tiantai and corresponding Japanese Tendai schools, to be the culmination of Shakyamuni Buddha's fifty years of teaching.

However, followers of Nichiren Buddhism consider Myōhō Renge Kyō to be the name of the ultimate law permeating the universe, in unison with human life which can manifest realization, sometimes termed as "Buddha Wisdom" or "attaining Buddhahood", through select Buddhist practices.

Among varying Nichiren sects, the phonetic use of Nam versus Namu is a linguistic but not a dogmatic issue,[15] due to common contractions and u is devoiced in many varieties of Japanese words.