Hachiman

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Hachiman (Jap., ‘eight banners’). A popular Shinto deity, often associated with good fortune in war. The worship of Hachiman spread quickly in early Japan, and by the 8th cent. CE a distinctive Shinto cult devoted to Hachiman had developed.

In Japanese Buddhism, Hachiman was integrated as H. Daibosatsu, the Great Bodhisattva, the first Shinto deity to be so treated. He is regarded as the incarnation of Amida.

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