Chihŏ (Buddhist monk)

Shinto is a religion native to Japan with a centuries'-long history tied to various influences in origin. Although historians debate the point at which it is suitable to begin referring to Shinto as a distinct religion, kami veneration has been traced back to Japan's Yayoi period (300 BCE to CE 300). Buddhism entered Japan at the end of the Kofun period (CE 300 to 538) and spread rapidly. Religious syncretization made kami worship and Buddhism functionally inseparable, a process called shinbutsu…