Prince Shotoku was a devout Buddhist. Many of his policies were inspired based on Buddhism. In government, Buddhist teachings were the
reason behind his creation of a centralized government. In literature, he is the author of the Sangyo
Gisho or “The Annotated Commentaries of the Three Sutras”. Though he is called the founder of Japanese
Buddhism, he also respected the Shinto religion which is also popular in
Japan. He is said to have visited Shinto
shrines before he would go to Buddhist shrines.
