Homma Rokurō Saemon ［本間六郎左衛門］ (n.d.): A retainer of Hōjō Nobutoki, the constable of the island province of Sado, Japan. His full name and title were Homma Rokurō Saemon-no-jō Shigetsura. His fief was at Echi in Sagami Province, but he was also steward of Niiho on Sado Island and deputy constable of the entire island. Nichiren was detained at Homma’s residence in Echi for nearly a month after the abortive attempt to execute him at Tatsunokuchi in 1271. He was then exiled to Sado in Homma’s custody. On the occasion of the Tsukahara Debate on Sado early in 1272, Nichiren urged Homma to hurry with his men to Kamakura, as a battle would soon break out there. Homma doubted this prediction, but when a messenger came with a report of a rebellion the following month, he abandoned his belief in the Pure Land teaching, as Nichiren describes in his work The Actions of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra.