Religion in Japan capital at Heian (now Kyoto). The six Buddhist sects initially established in Nara are today together known as "Nara Buddhism" and are relatively small. When the capital moved to Heian, more forms of Buddhism arrived from China, including the still-popular Shingon Buddhism, an esoteric form of Buddhism similar to Tibet's Vajrayana Buddhism, and Tendai, a monastic conservative form known better by its Chinese name, Tiantai. When the shogunate took power in the 12th century and the administrative capital moved to Kamakura, more forms of Buddhism arrived. The most popular was Zen, which became the most popular type of Buddhism of
Shingon Buddhism important to note that, because of the interdependence between emptiness and form, Vairocana is also a representation of all collective phenomena, of the universe itself. When the teachings of Shingon Buddhism were brought to Japan, Esoteric Buddhism was still in its early stages in India. At this time, the terms "Vajrayāna" ("Diamond Vehicle") and "Mantrayāna" ("Mantra Vehicle") were not used for Esoteric Buddhist teachings. Instead, esoteric teachings were more typically referred to as "Mantranaya", or the "Mantra System." According to Paul Williams, "Mantranaya" is the more appropriate term to describe the self-perception of early Esoteric Buddhism. The primary difference between