In 1309, he traveled to Kamakura 鎌倉 in Japan at the invitation of Hōjō Sadatoki 北條貞時 (1272–1311), residing initially at Zenkōji 禪興寺, and moving the following year to Engakuji 圓覺寺 where he established the Haku’un-an 白雲庵 hermitage. He was much in demand to preach the Dharma and moved around frequently among other temples, including Manjuji 萬壽寺, Jufukuji 壽福寺, Tōshōji 東勝寺, and Kenchōji 建長寺. He was also invited to be the founder of Jushōji 壽勝寺 and Zenkōji 善光寺 in Higo 肥後 province (present-day Kumamoto prefecture). He retired to the Haku’un-an hermitage in 1340, dying that same year at the age of sixty-nine.

His disciples collected his teachings in Haku’un-an Tōmyō zenji goroku 白雲東明禪師語錄 (3 vols.). Unlike Dahui Zonggao 大慧宗杲 (1089–1163) of the Linji school, who emphasized gong-an 公案 practice, Hongzhi Zhengjue 宏智正覺 (1091–1157), founder of the Hongzhi branch, emphasized silent illumination 默照禪. As the sixth-generation dharma heir of Hongzhi, Huiri transmitted this line of Zen to Japan, where it is known as the Tōmyō branch 東明派, one of the twenty-four transmissions of Zen 禪宗二十四流.