RYOBU SHINTO or HONJI SUIJAKU
Copyright © 2002 James Deacon

Historically, the indigenous religion of Shinto, also known as Kami No Michi (The Way of the Kami or Numinous Beings), was of central importance in Japanese culture since the earliest times, its pervasiveness being due in part to its ability to coexist happily with other faiths, Buddhism in particular.

In fact, from the 8th century onwards, the Japanese people had reconciled Shinto and Buddhism to such a degree that Buddhist temples were built within Shinto shrine precincts and Buddhist priests were entrusted with the running of Shinto shrines.

This conciliation had been made possible thanks to the emergence of a syncretic doctrine known as: Ryobu Shinto [or:Honji Suijaku], which - essentially by initially equating the Kami Spirit-Beings of Shinto with Buddhist Deities (i.e. Buddhas & Bodhisatvas, etc) - enabled the followers of one faith to legitimately venerate the other faith's Divine Beings as alternative manifestations of their own.

This popular synthesis - which was typified by wandering Yamabushi (mountain priests), itinerant practitioners of Shugendo, who ministered to the people with a mixture of Buddhist and Shinto rites - prospered right up until the early years of the Meiji Era (1868 -1912), when the doctrine of Ryobu Shinto/Honji Suijaku was annulled, and the Shugendo tradition of the Yamabushi was proscribed by the new regime as being an unacceptable hybrid.