Especially after Japan's defeat in the Pacific War in 1945, the Constitution of Japan, in which gender equality is declared, was promulgated and predominance of men over women based on Confucianism was denied according to the indication of the occupying forces, which resulted in the interpretation of Henjo Nanshi being shifted from one, which is that a woman can become a Buddha by changing into a man, to another, which is that a woman demonstrates her Buddhahood by her male appearance.
また、特に昭和20年の太平洋戦争敗戦後男女平等を謳う日本国憲法が発布され進駐軍の意向で儒教的な男尊女卑の考えが否定されると男子に成ることで成仏できるのではなく、成仏したことを男子の姿で表したといったように解釈が変更された。