(Japanese) The path of training and testing.
En-no-Gyoja is the legendary founder of this esoteric form of Buddhism. For 30 years from the year 666, En-no-Gyoja practiced in the mountains, gaining miraculous powers. Shugendô practitioners were called shugenja.
Shugendô is a mix of shamanism, Taoism, Buddhism and Shintô. In fact Shugendô was outlawed around 1870 by the Meiji Emperor’s regime because of this typical scenario of the combination of specifically Buddhist and Shintô elements. The government wanted a separation between Shintô and Buddhism, which had become interwoven. The distinction between religions supported the Meiji regime in establishing Shintô as the state religion. This unifying action promoted patriotism in Japan. Shugenja were, therefore, made to choose which sect to belong to: Buddhist (either Tendai or Shingon) or Shintô.