Shin is the uniquely Japanese flowering of the type of Buddhism known as Pure Land. It originated in the thirteenth century with the charismatic and prophetic figure Shinran (1172?1263) whose interpretation of the traditional Pure Land teachings was extremely influential in his own lifetime and remain so today. In a period when Japanese Buddhism was dominated by an elitist monastic establishment Shinran's Shin teaching became a way of liberation for all people regardless of age class or gender.