Funamori Yasaburō [船守弥三郎] (n.d.): A lay follower of Nichiren and a fisherman at Kawana on the Izu Peninsula in Japan. On the twelfth day of the fifth month, 1261, the Kamakura shogunate exiled Nichiren to the Izu Peninsula. He was taken to Kawana, a small fishing village on the northeastern coast of Izu, where Funamori Yasaburō and his wife became steadfast believers in his teachings. The couple gave him shelter and food for more than thirty days until he was summoned to the residence of the steward of Itō District in Izu, Itō Sukemitsu, who was suffering from a serious illness. There he offered prayers at the steward’s request for his recovery. Yasaburō sent a messenger to Nichiren at Itō with various offerings. In reply, Nichiren wrote him a letter known as The Izu Exile. See also Izu Exile.