After Japan's successful repulsion of the Mongol invasions, racial awareness strengthened among the Japanese, giving rise to the 'Shinkoku shiso,' the belief that Japan was a divine country, as well as the syncretic theory that Japan's kami (gods) were manifestations of Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
元寇の勝利によって民族的自覚が強まり、日本は神国であるという「神国思想」が発生し、神本仏従の習合思想が成立。