Apparently to Nichiren, not only chanting the Lotus Sutra but Sutra and doctrinal study are important: Two translations of a passage from the Opening of the Eyes

Translation of passage 1.

"The seventh volume of On “Great Concentration and Insight” states: “‘Priests who concentrate on the written word’ refers to men who gain no inner insight or understanding through meditation, but concern themselves only with characteristics of the doctrine. ‘Zen masters who concentrate on practice’ refers to men who do not learn how to attain the truth and the corresponding wisdom, but fix their minds on the mere techniques of breath control. Theirs is the kind of [non-Buddhist] meditation that fundamentally still retains outflows. ‘Some Zen masters give all their attention to meditation alone’ means that, for the sake of discussion, T’ien-t’ai gives them a certain degree of recognition, but from a stricter viewpoint they lack both insight and understanding. The Zen men in the world today value only meditation [as the way to realize the truth] and have no familiarity with doctrinal teachings. In relying upon meditation alone, they interpret the sutras in their own way. They put together the eight errors and the eight winds, and talk about the Buddha as being sixteen feet in height. They lump together the five components and the three poisons, and call them the eight errors. They equate the six sense organs with the six transcendental powers, and the four elements with the four noble truths. To interpret the sutras in such an arbitrary manner is to be guilty of the greatest falsehood. Such nonsense is not even worth discussing.”

"Monks who study only the writings refer to those who are concerned only with the scholastic aspects without understanding the true meaning of the scriptures through wisdom; and Zen monks who are concerned only withformality refer to those who are concerned with the conventions of meditation without firmly grasping the fundamentals. This is the same as the meditation of Brahmans, who will never gain complete freedom from delusions and evil passions. T'ien-t'ai's statement that some Zen monks concentrate only on meditation is an understatement sypathetic to them. In actuality, they lack both practice in meditation as well as wisdom to understand the doctrine. Those who practice Zen consider only the meditation important and pay little attention to the study of doctrines. They interpretate sutras from the viewpoint of meditation in such an absurd way as to say that the eight-fold Evil Path and the Eight Winds make the sixteen-feet tall Buddha, and the Five Elements of all existences and the Three Poisons of greed, anger, and stupidity make the Eight-fold Evil Path. They confuse the six sensory organs with the Six superhuman Powers, or confuste the basic elements of the material world (earth, water, fire, and wind) with the Four Noble Truths. That such interpretations of the sutras are the worst of all is beyond question, an absurdity not worthy of discussion."

Please remember, The Opening of the Eyes was entrusted to a layman, Shijo Kingo. To me Soka Gakkai members remind me more of Zen Buddhists than Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhists because few of them can intelligently discuss the teachings.