Modern divisions of the Hongan-ji Nishi Hongan-ji Formally known as the Jodo-Shinshu Honganji-ha, it is the largest of all the Jodo Shinshu branches. Compared with the Higashi Hongan-ji, it has a history of institutional stability that accounts for high membership figures, and a larger geographical reach, but fewer well-known modern thinkers. The Nishi Hongan-ji has a sizable number of overseas temples in the United States, South America, Hawai'i, Canada, and Europe which are organized into several kyodan ("districts"). The largest of these is the Buddhist Churches of America. The Hongwanji International Center, to the east of Nishi Hongan-ji, coordinates dialogue with Jōdo Shinshū organizations around the world and produces translation work. The Nishi Hongan-ji operates the Hongwanji Publishing Company which produces books, music, films, and anime about Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism. They also publish a bimonthly newspaper, the Hongwanji Journal and their website includes, among other things, a TV channel devoted to explaining Buddhism and Hongan-ji's everyday operations. Higashi Hongan-ji Higashi Hongan-ji is one of the two dominant subsects of Jōdo Shinshū, the other being the Nishi Honganji. During the Meiji Restoration in the 1860s, the government set down new guidelines for the management of religious organizations. An organization called Ōtani-ha was put in control of Higashi Hongan-ji. In 1987, this temple was renamed Shinshū Honbyō "Shinshū Mausoleum", although the earlier name is still used. The buildings have not been changed or moved, and of course the historical cultural and religious significance of the place has not changed. Due to opposition to the creation of the Ōtani-ha, and a number of other controversies and disputes such as the Ohigashi schism, several new Higashi Hongan-ji branches came into existence such as the Higashiyama Hongan-ji, founded in Kyoto in 1996 by Otani Korin, and the Tokyo Higashi Hongan-ji, whose current leader is Otani Koken. Despite, or perhaps even because of, this climate of instability, the Higashi Hongan-ji movement has also produced a significant number of controversial but influential thinkers, such as Soga Ryōjin, Kiyozawa Manshi, Kaneko Daiei and Akegarasu Haya, amongst others. The largest Higashi Hongan-ji grouping, the Ōtani-ha has approximately 5.5 million members, according to statistics. Joint activities In recent years some members of the Honganji sects have been involved in high-profile protests against the visits of Japanese politicians to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. Along with the other non-Honganji Jōdo Shinshū subsects, the Honganji issued a statement opposing the 2003 invasion of