, literally "syncretism

Syncretism

Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...

 of kami and buddhas" (also called , a term which however has a negative connotation of bastardization and randomness) is the syncretism

Syncretism

Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...

 of Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 and kami

Kami

is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

worship which was Japan's religion until the Meiji period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

. When Buddhism was introduced through China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 in the late Asuka period

Asuka period

The , was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 , although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period...

 (6th century), rather than discard the old belief system the Japanese tried to reconcile it with the new, assuming both were true. As a consequence, Buddhist temples (寺, tera) were attached to local kami shrines (神社, jinja) and viceversa and devoted to both kami and Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

. The local religion and foreign Buddhism never quite fused, but remained however inextricably linked all the way to the present day, always interacting. The depth of the resulting influence of Buddhism on local religious beliefs can be seen for example in the fact that much of Shinto's conceptual vocabulary and even the types of Shinto shrines today, with a large worship hall and religious images, are themselves of Buddhist origin. The formal separation of Buddhism from Shinto took place only as recently as the end of the 19th century, and in many ways the blending of the two still continues.

The term shinbutsu shūgō itself was coined during the early modern era (17th century) to refer to the amalgamation of kami and buddhas in general, as opposed to specific currents within Buddhism which did the same, e.g. Ryōbu Shinto and Sannō Shinto.

Debate over the nature of Shinto

There is no agreement among specialists as to the exact extent of fusion between the two religions.

According to some scholars, for example Hirai Naofusa in Japan and Joseph Kitagawa

Joseph Kitagawa

Joseph Mitsuo Kitagawa was a Japanese American professor emeritus of University of Chicago and former dean of its Divinity School, known for his work in the history of religions, particularly on those of the East.-Books:...

 in the US, Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan, has existed as such continuously since pre-history, and consists of all the peculiarly Japanese rituals and beliefs shaped by Japanese history from prehistory to the present. The term "Shinto" itself was coined in the 6th century to differentiate the loosely organized local religion from imported Buddhism.

The opposing view belongs to Japanese historian Toshio Kuroda

Toshio Kuroda

was a Japanese academic, historian and university professor. A specialist in medieval Japanese history and in the history of Japanese thought, he greatly influenced Japanese historiography with several innovative and controversial theories. His ideas were the opposite of what mainstream academics...

 (and his supporters) who, in a famous article ("Shinto in the History of Japanese Religion," published in English in 1981), has argued that Shinto as an independent religion was born only in the modern period after emerging in the Middle Ages as an offshoot of Buddhism. Kuroda's main argument is that Shinto as a distinct religion is a Meiji era invention of Japanese nationalist ideologues (see the section The two religions after the Separation Order below). He points out how the state formalization of kami

Kami

is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

 rituals and the state ranking of shrines during the Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 were not the emergence of Shinto as an independent religion, but an effort to explain local beliefs in Buddhist terms. He also says that, while it is true that the two characters for "Shinto" appear very early in the historical record, for example in the Nihon Shoki

Nihon Shoki

The , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical...

, this does not mean today's Shinto already existed as a religion because they were originally used as a name for Taoism

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

 or even for religion in general. Indeed, according to Kuroda many features of Shinto, for example the worshiping of mirrors and swords or the very structure of Ise Shrine

Ise Shrine

is a Shinto shrine dedicated to goddess Amaterasu-ōmikami, located in the city of Ise in Mie prefecture, Japan. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is in fact a shrine complex composed of a large number of Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and ....

 (Shinto's holiest and most important site) are typical of Taoism. The term Shinto in old texts therefore does not necessarily indicate something uniquely Japanese.

Still according to this view, Shinto's rise as an autonomous religion was gradual and started to become evident already with Yoshida Kanetomo

Yoshida Kanetomo

was an Japanese Shinto priest in the Momoyama period. He was a seminal figure in the evolution of a coherent descriptive and interpretive schema of Shinto ritual and mythology.-Career:...

's Yoshida Shinto. The term Shinto started to be used with today's meaning of kami worship only later during the Edo Period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

. During the same era, Kokugaku

Kokugaku

Kokugaku was a National revival, or, school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period...

 theorists like Motoori Norinaga

Motoori Norinaga

was a Japanese scholar of Kokugaku active during the Edo period. He is probably the best known and most prominent of all scholars in this tradition.-Life:...

 tried to separate it intellectually from Buddhism, preparing the ground from the final schism of the Meiji restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

.

According to the first view, then, the two religions were at the time of their first meeting already formed and independent and thereafter just coexisted with non-essential exchanges. According to the second, Buddhism, meeting local kami beliefs in Japan, actually produced today's Shinto.

Assimilation process

The fusion of Buddhism with the local kami worship started as soon as the first arrived in Japan, as proven by Mononobe

Mononobe clan

The was a Japanese clan of the Kofun period, known for its military opposition to the Soga clan. The Mononobe were opposed to the spread of Buddhism, not on religious grounds, but more so as the result of feelings of conservatism and a degree of xenophobia...

 no Okoshi's statement that:

"The kami of our land will be offended if we worship a foreign kami".

In other words, Mononobe saw Buddha as just another kami

Kami

is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

, and not as an alien God, possibly different in nature from his own. Foreign kami were called or , and understood to be more or less like local ones. Initially, therefore, the conflict between the two religions was political, and not religious, in nature, a struggle between the progressive Soga clan

Soga clan

The was one of the most powerful clans in Yamato Japan and played a major role in the spread of Buddhism. For many generations, in the 5th and 7th centuries, the Soga monopolized the position of Great Royal Chieftain and was the first of many families to dominate the Imperial House of Japan by...

, that wanted a more international outlook for the country, and the conservative Mononobe clan

Mononobe clan

The was a Japanese clan of the Kofun period, known for its military opposition to the Soga clan. The Mononobe were opposed to the spread of Buddhism, not on religious grounds, but more so as the result of feelings of conservatism and a degree of xenophobia...

, that wanted the contrary.

Buddhism was not passive in the assimilation process, but was itself ready to assimilate and be assimilated. By the time it entered Japan it was already syncretic, having adapted to and amalgamated with other religions and cultures in India, China and Korean peninsula

Korean Peninsula

The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.Until the end of...

. For example, already while in India, it had absorbed Hindu divinities like Brahma

Brahma

Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...

 (Bonten in Japanese) and Indra

Indra

' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...

 (Taishakuten). When it arrived in Japan, it already had a disposition towards producing the combinatory gods that the Japanese would call . Searching for the origins of a kami in Buddhist scriptures was felt to be nothing out of the ordinary.

However, if monks didn't doubt the existence of kami, they certainly saw them as inferior to their Buddhas. Hindu gods had already been treated analogously: they had been thought of as un-illuminated and prisoner of saṃsāra

Samsara

thumb|right|200px|Traditional Tibetan painting or [[Thanka]] showing the [[wheel of life]] and realms of saṃsāraSaṅsāra or Saṃsāra , , literally meaning "continuous flow", is the cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth or reincarnation within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, Sikhism, and other...

. Buddhist claims of superiority encountered resistance, and monks tried to overcome them by deliberately integrating kami in their system. Several strategies to do this were developed and deployed.

The process of amalgamation is usually divided in three stages.

The first articulation of the difference between Japanese religious ideas and Buddhism, and the first effort to reconcile the two is attributed to Prince Shōtoku

Prince Shotoku

, also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was a son of Emperor Yōmei and his younger half-sister Princess Anahobe no Hashihito. His parents were relatives of the ruling Soga clan, and was involved in the defeat...

 (574 - 622), and the first signs that the differences between the two world views were beginning to become manifest to the Japanese in general appear at the time of Emperor Temmu (673 - 86). Accordingly, one of the first efforts to reconcile Shinto and Buddhism was made in the eight century during the Nara period

Nara period

The of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Gemmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō . Except for 5 years , when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kammu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784...

 founding so-called , that is shrine-temples, complexes comprising both a shrine and a temple.

Behind the inclusion in a Shinto shrine of Buddhist religious objects was the idea that the kami were lost beings in need of liberation through the power of Buddha. Kami were thought to be subject to karma

Karma

Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....

 and reincarnation like human beings, and early Buddhist stories tell how that the task of helping suffering kami was assumed by wandering monks. A local kami would appear in a dream to the monk, telling him about his suffering. To improve the kami's karma through rites and the reading of sutras

Sutra

Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...

, the monk would build a temple next to the kami's shrine. Such groupings were created already in the 7th century, for example in Usa

Usa, Oita

' is a city located in Ōita Prefecture, Japan. Usa is famous for being the location of the Usa Shrine, built in 725, the head shrine of all of Hachiman shrines in Japan.Usa is made up of three areas.*Usa, the area surrounding the Usa Shrine...

, Kyūshū, where kami

Kami

is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

 Hachiman

Hachiman

In Japanese mythology, is the Japanese syncretic god of archery and war, incorporating elements from both Shinto and Buddhism. Although often called the god of war, he is more correctly defined as the tutelary god of warriors. He is also divine protector of Japan and the Japanese people...

 was worshiped together with Miroku Bosatsu (Maitreya

Maitreya

Maitreya , Metteyya , or Jampa , is foretold as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he or she is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva.Maitreya is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on...

). The building of temples at shrines produced shrine-temple complexes, which in turn accelerated the amalgamation process. As a result of the creation of shrine-temple complexes, many shrines that had until then been just an open-air site became Buddhist style groupings of buildings.

At the end of the same century, in what is considered the second stage of the amalgamation, the kami Hachiman

Hachiman

In Japanese mythology, is the Japanese syncretic god of archery and war, incorporating elements from both Shinto and Buddhism. Although often called the god of war, he is more correctly defined as the tutelary god of warriors. He is also divine protector of Japan and the Japanese people...

 was declared to be protector-deity of the Dharma

Dharma

Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...

 and a little bit later a bodhisattva

Bodhisattva

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...

. Shrines for him started to be built at temples (the so-called temple-shrines), marking an important step ahead in the process of amalgamation of kami and Buddhist cults. When the great Buddha at Tōdai-ji

Todai-ji

, is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall , the largest wooden building in the world, houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu . The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the ...

 in Nara

Nara, Nara

is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...

 was built, within the temple grounds was also erected a shrine for Hachiman, according to the legend because of a wish expressed by the kami himself. Hachiman considered this his reward for having helped the temple find the gold and copper mines from which the metal for the great statue had come. After this, temples in the entire country adopted tutelary kami

Kami

is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

(.

Honji suijaku theory

The third and final stage of the fusion took place in the ninth century with the development of the theory according to which Japanese kami are emanations of buddha

Buddhahood

In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

s, bodhisattvas or deva

Deva (Buddhism)

A deva in Buddhism is one of many different types of non-human beings who share the characteristics of being more powerful, longer-lived, and, in general, living more contentedly than the average human being....

s who mingle with human beings to lead them to the Buddhist Way. This theory was the keystone of the whole shinbutsu shūgō edifice and therefore the foundation of Japanese religion for many centuries. Because of it, most kami changed from potentially dangerous spirits to be improved through contact with the Buddhist law to local emanations of buddhas and bodhisattvas which possess a wisdom of their own. Buddhas and kami were now indivisible twins.

The status of kami however changed dramatically according to the sect. At one extreme one found the Shingon sect

Shingon Buddhism

is one of the mainstream major schools of Japanese Buddhism and one of the few surviving Esoteric Buddhist lineages that started in the 3rd to 4th century CE that originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra...

's Ryōbu Shinto thinkers, who considered kami and buddhas equivalent in power and dignity. However, not all kami were emanations of some buddha. Some, often called , usually dangerous and angry, had no Buddhist counterpart. They were creatures called tengu

Tengu

are a class of supernatural creatures found in Japanese folklore, art, theater, and literature. They are one of the best known yōkai and are sometimes worshipped as Shinto kami...

or animals possessing magic, as the fox

Kitsune

is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; in English, kitsune refers to them in this context. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume...

 or the tanuki

Tanuki

is the common Japanese name for the Japanese raccoon dog . They have been part of Japanese folklore since ancient times...

. Even these unholy and inferior "true kami" however attracted the attention of Ryōbu Shinto thinkers, which resulted in theories which declared them to be manifestations of Dainichi Nyorai and Amaterasu

Amaterasu

, or is apart of the Japanese myth cycle and also a major deity of the Shinto religion. She is the goddess of the sun, but also of the universe. the name Amaterasu derived from Amateru meaning "shining in heaven." The meaning of her whole name, Amaterasu-ōmikami, is "the great August kami who...

.

At the opposite extreme one found the Amidist Jōdo sect, which more or less renounced kami. This was however not because they did not exist, but rather because they were not the equals of the buddhas and their worship could therefore only be inferior. The mainstream between the two was sympathetic to kami, but ultimately considered them inferior.

Shinbutsu kakuri

The two religions however never fused completely and, while overlapping here and there, kept their particular identity within a difficult, largely un-systematized and tense relationship. This relationship existed, rather than between two systems, between particular kami and particular buddhas. The two were always perceived as parallel but separate entities. Besides shinbutsu shūgō there was always the other side of the coin of continued separation.

In fact, the term in Japanese Buddhist terminogy refers to the tendency that existed in Japan to keep some kami separate from Buddhism. While some kami were integrated in Buddhism, others (or at times even the same kami in a different context) were kept systematically away from Buddhism. This phenomenon had significant consequences for Japanese culture as a whole. It must not be confused with shinbutsu bunri

Shinbutsu Bunri

The term in Japanese indicates the forbidding by law of the amalgamation of kami and buddhas made during the Meiji Restoration. It also indicates the effort made by the Japanese government to create a clear division between native kami beliefs and Buddhism on one side, and Buddhist temples and...

("separation of kami and buddhas") or with haibutsu kishaku

Haibutsu kishaku

is a term that indicates a current of thought continuous in Japan's history which advocates the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan...

("abolish Buddhas and destroy Shākyamuni"), which are phenomenons recurrent in Japanese history and usually due to political causes. While the first assumes the acceptance of Buddhism, the second and third actually oppose it.

The practice had in any case important consequences, among them the prevention of the complete assimilation of kami practices into Buddhism. Also, the prohibition of Buddhism at the Ise and Kamo Shrine

Kamo Shrine

is a general term for an important Shinto sanctuary complex on both banks of the Kamo River in northeast Kyoto. It is centered on two shrines. The two shrines, an upper and a lower, lie in a corner of the old capital which was known as the due to traditional geomancy beliefs that the north-east...

s allowed them to freely develop their theories about the nature of kami.

Buddhism and Shinto after the Separation Order

In 1868 with the Shinbutsu bunri

Shinbutsu Bunri

The term in Japanese indicates the forbidding by law of the amalgamation of kami and buddhas made during the Meiji Restoration. It also indicates the effort made by the Japanese government to create a clear division between native kami beliefs and Buddhism on one side, and Buddhist temples and...

 (the attempt to separate kami worship and Buddhism), temples and shrines were separated by law with the .

However, in spite of more than a century of formal separation of the two religions, temples or shrines that do not separate them are still common, as proven for example by the existence of some important Buddhist Inari

Inari

Inari may refer to:* Inari , a Shinto spirit** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari** Inari Shrine, shrines to the Shinto god Inari* Inari Sami, one of the Sami languages...

 temples. Because during the Meiji period, to help the spread of Shinto, shrine-temples were destroyed while temple-shrines were tolerated, shrine-temples are rare (an extant example is Seiganto-ji

Seiganto-ji

is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. In 2004, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other locations, under the name "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range". According to a legend, it was founded by the priest Ragyō Shōnin, a monk...

), but temple-shrines are common, and most temples still have at least a small one. Prominent religious institutions in both camps still give evidence of integration of the two religions. The great Kenchō-ji

Kencho-ji

Kenchō-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. These temples were at the top of the Five Mountain System, a network of Zen temples started by the Hōjō...

 temple, number one of Kamakura's great Zen temples (the Kamakura Gozan

Five Mountain System

The system, more commonly called simply Five Mountain System, was a network of state-sponsored Zen Buddhist temples created in China during the Southern Song Dynasty . The term "mountain" in this context means "temple" or "monastery", and was adopted because many monasteries were built on isolated...

) includes two shrines. One of the islands in the right-side pond of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū shrine in Kamakura hosts a sub-shrine dedicated to goddess Benzaiten

Benzaiten

Benzaiten is the Japanese name for the Hindu goddess Saraswati. Worship of Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the 6th through 8th centuries, mainly via the Chinese translations of the Sutra of Golden Light, which has a section devoted to her...

, a Buddhist deity. For this reason, the sub-shrine was removed in 1868 at the time of the Shinbutsu Bunri, but rebuilt in 1956. Shinto and Buddhism still have a symbiotic relationship of interdependence, particularly concerning funeral rites (entrusted to Buddhism) and weddings

Japanese wedding

Japanese wedding customs fall into two categories: traditional Shinto ceremonies, and modern Western-style weddings. In either case, the couple must first be legally married by filing for marriage at their local government office, and the official documentation must be produced in order for the...

(usually left to Shinto or sometimes Christianity). The separation of the two religions must therefore be considered only superficial, and shinbutsu shūgō still an accepted practice.

Still, the separation of the two religions is felt to be real by the public. Scholar Karen Smyers comments:

The surprise of many of my informants regarding the existence of Buddhist Inari temples shows the success of the government's attempt to create separate conceptual categories regarding sites and certain identities, although practice remains multiple and nonexclusive.