Chinjusha

[7] The frequent presence, even today, of a Shinto shrine near or in a Buddhist temple has its roots in the efforts made by the Japanese to reconcile local kami worship with imported Buddhism.

One of the first such efforts was made during the Nara period (710–794) with the founding of so-called shrine-temples (jingū-ji), complexes consisting of a shrine dedicated to some kami and of a Buddhist temple.

[2] The reason for Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines to be constructed together was the belief that kami, like humans, needed salvation through the power of Buddha.

[8] Shrines for him started to be built at temples (the so-called temple-shrines, or jisha), marking an important step ahead in the process of amalgamation of kami worship and Buddhism.

[8] When the great Buddha at Tōdai-ji in Nara was built, within the temple grounds was also erected a shrine for Hachiman, according to the legend because of a wish expressed by the kami himself.

[2] As a result, until the Meiji period (1868–1912) the vast majority of all shrines were small, had no permanent priest and belonged to a Buddhist temple.