Huayan studies were founded in Japan when, in 736, the scholar-priest Rōben (良辯 or 良弁) originally a monk of the Hossō tradition invited Shinshō (審祥, also in Japanese Shinjō, Chinese Shen-hsiang, Korean Simsang) to give lectures on the Avatamsaka Sutra at Kinshōsen-ji (金鐘山寺, also 金鐘寺 Konshu-ji or Kinshō-ji), the origin of later Tōdai-ji.
The city of Nara has a long tradition of adopting guardian deities such as Nio (a pair of temple guardians), Asura, Jūni Shinshō (Twelve Heavenly Generals) and Shitenno (Four Guardian Kings).