So, where and from whom did Nichiren learn Tendai teachings, and what kind of teachings were they? What kind of academic trends were present at Mt. Hiei's monastic complex of the Tendai School in the first and second half of the 13th century? What kind of influence did those trends have on Nichiren's thought, and what kind of effect did they have on his later doctrinal development? Thanks to a few studies conducted in the previous century, 4 it is supposed that during his studies at Mt. Hiei

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... 42-1254), Nichiren was influenced by Yamato no Shō Shunpan Hōin 大和荘/庄俊範法印 (1212-1259/1262?), chief scholar of the Mt. Hiei's monastic complex (三 塔総学頭), who at the time preached the "Essential Unity of Esoteric and Exoteric Teaching (円密一致)" 5 in spite of the prevailing academic trend which strongly favoured Esotericism,