In 1471, the 8th Honganji head Rennyo — driven from Kyoto after Enryakuji monks destroyed the Otani Honganji in the Kansho Persecution — established a new base at Yoshizaki in Hokuriku at the age of 57. His innovative strategy of mass-producing easy-to-read "Ofumi" pastoral letters in kana script proved explosively effective: within just four years he gained roughly 100,000 followers across Hokuriku and Tokai, laying the foundation for the Ikko-shu to become the most powerful religious force of the Sengoku era. The rapid expansion of his followers, however, brought clashes with the Togashi clan, the shugo of Kaga, and seeded the Ikko-ikki uprisings. In 1475, Rennyo himself set fire to the temple and departed Yoshizaki, afterward turning to the rebuilding of Yamashina Honganji. Though his Yoshizaki base lasted only four years, it was the decisive stage of the Jodo Shinshu revival.