We've had someone singing the praises of Nichiren Shoshu, and I feel compelled to set the record straight

Truth be told, all the good priests left Nichiren Shoshu during its Gakkai-pandering days. The Nichiren Shoshu priests all knew exactly what Ikeda was doing and what a colossal asshat he was, but since he was promising them exactly what they'd always wanted - to be made Japan's state religion, with all the other religions either downgraded or sent packing - they played ball with that thug, that grifter, that conman, that deviant. Knowing full well what he was and what he was doing. All because they believed this alliance would pay off handsomely for them.

The good priests all left - the Yoshinkai, Myokankai, Myoshinkai, Kenshokai, Shoshinkai (can I get some ginger-soy dressing with that word salad?) - specifically because of the adverse influence Ikeda's Soka Gakkai was having on their temple and doctrines.

There are reports that Nichiren Shoshu doctored the Dai-Gohonzon, adding "reward" and "punishment" passages to its face during the restoration leading up to the Sho-Hondo Grand Opening ceremonies in 1972. That would have been to maximize their Gakkai-related profits - greed and fear are marvelous motivators.

There is a report that Nichiren Shoshu High Priest Nittatsu Shonin was forced out in 1974 after a legal battle over control of the Sho-Hondo (he founded Nichiren Shoshu Yoshinkai and took 1/3 of the Nichiren Shoshu priests with him), at which point Ikeda hand-selected his successor, High Priest Nikken Abe, expecting that Nikken would play ball. And Nikken did - for a while.

The Shoshinkai incident (early 1980) was another significant crisis for Nichiren Shoshu - these decent priests left because seeing Ikeda's dupe in the High Priest's position was simply the final straw. Two hundred more priests left with them.

Once it became clear Ikeda could not deliver what he had promised, Nikken did a volte face and kicked Ikeda to the curb. His loyalty had come with a price tag, and when it became clear that Ikeda's pockets were empty, he was done. By then, more than 2/3 of Nichiren Shoshu's priests had left in protest over Ikeda's Soka Gakkai's influence. If Nikken hadn't cut off the Ikeda cult, he would have been left with nothing - and he knew it. In any case, Ikeda was of no further use to Nikken, and represented far too much risk and unpredictability to tolerate.

None of this is respect-worthy behavior, you'll notice. Avarice, greed, power-mongering, bending and twisting doctrine for financial and political expediency (and in an organization that claims to be "Orthodox" - the "Sho" of "Shoshu"), being paid off in money and temples to give their imprimatur to a criminal organization, turning a blind eye to outright wrongdoing simply because they hoped for significant gain - that is the legacy of the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood post-Soka Gakkai.

Versicle provided a couple of excellent examples of this craven, dishonest behavior on the part of the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood:

One year after this, Soka Gakkai proposed the implementation of changing the Ushitora Gongyo from its traditional Buddhist time slot of 2:30 AM to 12:00 AM midnight, to accommodate the western foreigners’ preference and convenience. Source

He note that the time slot was, indeed, changed per Ikeda's demand request. Ikeda got what he wanted, didn't he? The Nichiren Shoshu high priest Versicle praises gave it to him:

If it weren’t for the honorable Nikken Shounin 67th, the Head Temple would have been in total chaos and destruction, not to mention the megalomania of those senior Soka Gakkai members who wish to turn the Head Temple as the Kaiden center of their political rule. Source

Yes, that very same High Priest Nikken who endorsed the "Kaidan" interpretation in hopes of joining Daisaku Ikeda in taking over the government of Japan a few years later. Who didn't kick Ikeda out for another SIXTEEN YEARS. Nikken sold out the Head Temple and only clawed it back once it became clear he wasn't getting what he'd been promised.

Nichiren Shoshu fanbois and fangurls like to toss loaded terminology around like "restored the purity of the Nichiren lineage" and whatnot, but when you've already sold it out for power and profit, there's no "purity" left to be "restored".

The Nichiren Shoshu temple keeps a very blunt but basic explanation on these topics, mostly found in their respective websites and Buddhist lectures. Theres really no room for discussion because the direct answer will either come from the priest or the Koto-Leader in charge of localized temple. Its either you accept it or you don't. The bickering/argumentation that follows among members is exactly just that-----noise that have no official sanction. Source

No difference from what happens within SGI, in other words.

ALL the Nichiren-influenced end up behaving badly. It's simply the very predictable effect of that nitwit Nichiren's pernicious "teachings". Those who follow Nichiren end up combative and conceited, because Nichiren was combative and conceited - and hateful and insane on top of that. I'll close with another of Nichiren Shoshu fanboi Versicle's problematic comments:

Perhaps there will be a group of regulated licensed therapists who can make an association to help dysfunctional members find their purpose back into society. Reclusing oneself away from the world is not helpful to ones mental health. It causes further antisocial behaviors and risks for higher rate of suicidal incidents. Source

Is he insinuating that, if former members make too much of a ruckus about all the screaming dysfunction within Nichiren Shoshu or SGI, they'll face a risk of being suicided? Remember the saying: "The Soka Gakkai kills a man as if he kills himself." I haven't heard anything similar about Nichiren Shoshu, but since they eagerly met Ikeda on his level, I certainly wouldn't put it past them.

I have made it clear that our position here is that Nichiren Shoshu is just as bad as SGI, not only because they're both rooted in Nichiren, who was a monster, and a monster who didn't understand the first thing about Buddhism at that, but because Nichiren Shoshu chose Ikeda's grift over the orthodoxy they supposedly prized so highly.