Buddhist deities 仏神

Japanese religious imagery is strongly characterised by Buddhism, which is why the highest Buddhist beings, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, are most frequently depicted. However, the Buddhas also include deities from other religions: Together with the indigenous Japanese gods (kami) and imported deities from India, China and Korea, they form a pantheon in which the boundaries between the individual denominations and religions disappear. In Japanese art history, there are four hierarchically organised categories for this purpose: nyorai (Buddha), bosatsu (Bodhisattva), myōō (Vidyārāja) and tenbu (Deva).