Shugendō

thumb| practitioners (Shugenja) in the mountains of Kumano, Mie ([[Kōshō Tateishi)]] thumb|upright|Statue of En no Gyōja, the founder of . [[Kamakura period, c. 1300–1375, Kimbell Art Museum.]] thumb|upright|Stairs on the way to Ōminesan-ji, the holy site of '' thumb|upright|Acala|Fudō Myōō silk scroll from [[Daigo-ji (Kyoto), a major Shingon temple and site]] thumb|upright|Zaō Gongen, a key deity in , in Kinpusen-ji Temple

is a syncretic Esoteric Buddhist religion, a body of ascetic practices that originated in the Nara Period of Japan having evolved during the 7th century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn primarily from Esoteric Buddhism, local folk-religious practices, Shinto, mountain worship, and Taoism. The final purpose of is for practitioners to find supernatural power and save themselves and the masses by conducting religious training while treading through steep mountain ranges. Practitioners are called or . The mountains where is practiced are all over Japan, and can span multiple mountains within one range such as the Ōmine mountain range with Mount Hakkyō and Mount Ōmine or the Ishizuchisan mountain range with Kamegamori and Tengudake.