Kōshin

Numerous monuments or pillars called Kōshin-tō (庚申塔) (or also Kōshin-zuka (庚申塚)) were erected all over the country, and the belief remained very popular during the Edo period.

However, after the Meiji government issued the Shinto and Buddhism Separation Order in 1872, Kōshin and other folk beliefs were officially rejected as superstitions.

On the night called Kōshin-Machi, the Sanshis leave the body and go to Tentei (天帝), the Heavenly God, to report the deeds of that person.

These deities were visualized in hanging scrolls, icons, and stone carvings, many of which continue to dot the rural landscape of Japan today.

The first scriptures that established his connection with Kōshin were produced in the context of esoteric Buddhist rituals performed at the temple known as Onjōji or Miidera.