One of the most popular of Japan's Shintō deities.
Referred to as the god of war, he is believed to be the deification of Ōjin, the 15th emperor. He is the patron of the Minamoto clan and of warriors in general. His first shrine was built in 725, and today half the Shintō shrines are dedicated to him. In the 8th century Hachiman was accepted as a Buddhist divinity; he is the guardian deity of the great Buddhist temple at Tōdai .