Zaou-Gongen is one of the most important mountain deities of Japan's syncretic Shugendou sects, a diverse tradition of mountain ascetic practices associated with Shinto beliefs, Taoism, magic, supernatural powers, and Esoteric (Tantric) Buddhism. After the arrival of Buddhism to Japan in the mid-6th century, the native Shinto Kami were soon considered manifestations of the imported Buddhist divinities. Zao serves as the protector deity of sacred Mt. Kimpusen Japan's Nara prefecture and is considered the local Japanese Shinto manifestation of three Buddhist divinities -- the Historical Buddha (Sakya), Kannon Bodhisattva (Kanzeon), and Miroku Buddha, who serve respectively as the Buddhas of the Past, Present, and Future. This makes Zaou perhaps the most powerful local divinity of religious m