Tōji-in in the context of Tenryū sect

Buddhism includes a wide array of divine beings that are venerated in various ritual and popular contexts. Initially they included mainly Indian figures such as devas, asuras and yakshas, but later came to include other Asian spirits and local gods (like the Burmese nats and the Japanese kami). They range from enlightened Buddhas to regional spirits adopted by Buddhists or practiced on the margins of the religion.

Buddhists later also came to incorporate aspects from the countries to which it spread. As such, it includes many aspects taken from other mythologies of those cultures.

Ashikaga Yoshihisa (足利 義尚; December 11, 1465 – April 26, 1489) was the 9th shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1473 to 1489 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshihisa was the son of the eighth shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa with his wife Hino Tomiko.

Since the almost 30-year-old shōgun Yoshimasa had no heir by 1464, he adopted his younger brother Ashikaga Yoshimi to succeed him. However, Yoshihisa was born in the next year starting a struggle for succession between brothers that erupted into the Ōnin War starting in 1467, beginning the Sengoku period of Japanese history. In the middle of hostilities, Yoshimasa retired in 1473, relinquishing the position of Sei-i Taishōgun to Yoshihisa.