SANNO ICHIJITSU SHINTO

(JapaneseOne Truth of Sanno Shinto) also called Ichijitsu Shinto, or Tendai Shinto in Japanese religion, the syncretic school that combined Shinto with the teachings of the Tendai sect of Buddhism. Shinto-Buddhist syncretism developed from the Japanese concept that Shinto deities (kami) were manifestations of Buddhist divinities. The earliest of these schools, Ryobu Shinto, was founded on the belief that Amaterasu Omikami, the chief Shinto deity, corresponded to the Buddha Mahavairocana (Japanese Dainichi). In the Heian period (7941185), the Tendai sect established its headquarters outside Kyoto on Mount Hiei. Sanno (Japanese: Mountain King), the mountain's kami, became identified with the Buddha Sakyamuni (Japanese Shaka), the principal figure of Tendai Buddhism. The Sanno Shinto school emerged, based on the Tendai belief in Buddhist unity. Thus, Shaka was identical to Dainichi, and Sanno to Amaterasu. Further interpretation of the Tendai teaching of the one truth (ichijitsu) of the world resulted in Sanno Ichijitsu Shinto, in which Amaterasu became the ultimate source of Buddhist and Shinto unity. This school flourished during the Tokugawa period (16031867).