HONJISUIJAKU is a technical term in Japanese Buddhism that originally designated a theory of emanation pertaining to Shintō and Buddhist divinities. Later, it came to be applied to the interpretative framework of the associations among them (shimbutsu-shūgō). The term is a compound: Honji, usually translated as "original nature," designates the limitless potentiality of the Buddha to manifest himself in as many forms as he wishes in order to lure living beings toward awakening; suijaku, usually translated as "manifestation" or "hypostasis," designates those forms. The original use of the term is to be found in the various Chinese commentaries of the Lotus Sūtra (Skt., Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra; Chin., Miaofa lianhua jing; Jpn., Myōhorengekyo). These commentaries propose a twofold division of the scripture in which the first fourteen chapters are called (in Japanese) jakumon ("teaching by manifestation") and the second fourteen chapters, hommon ("fundamental teaching...