Buddhism was introduced by a visitor from Korea around 550 A.D. It did not take long to spread Buddhism throughout Japan even though there were existing native religions in each Japanese community. One of the reasons which aided in spreading Buddhism so quickly was Yamataikoku, a strong country controlled by a woman, Himiko, who unified small countries and villages a couple hundreds years before Buddhism was introduced.

However, there was a war between two powerful families named Mononobe and Soga. The Mononobe family believed in a native religion and tried to keep Buddhism out of Japan. On the other hand, the Soga family was really interested in Buddhism, because it was from a developed country. Prince Shotoku (Shotoku taishi) also took a deep interest in Buddhism, sided with the Soga Family and participated in the war against the Mononobe family.

When the Soga family and Prince Shotoku were about to loose the war, he carved the Four Devas from wood. He brought them to where the fighting was taking place and put them up on the front line. The whole climate of the situation changed, and the Mononobe family lost the war.

At the end of the war between the Mononobe family and the Soga family, Buddhism flourished in Japan. Now, there are several Buddhism denominations in Japan including Nichiren, Shingon, Joudo, Joudoshinshu, Tendai, and Zenshu.

The snake was a sacred creature found on the decoration and design of pottery from the Jomon Period. The sacred creature eventually changed to a bird during the Yayoi Period because of cultural influences from Korea.

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