Myōjin or Daimyōjin was a title historically applied to Japanese deities and, by metonymy, their shrines. The term is thought to have been derived from myōjin, a title once granted by the imperial court to kamideemed to have particularly impressive power and virtue and/or have eminent, well-established shrines and cults. This term is first attested in the Shoku Nihongi, where offerings from the kingdom of Bohai are stated to have been offered to "the eminent shrines in each province" in the year 730. An epithet homophonous with this imperially bestowed title, "shining/apparent kami", was in popular usage from around the Heian period up until the end of the Edo period, coexisting with titles with more explicit Buddhist overtones such as gongen or daibosatsu. and Takeda Shingen. The leftmost banner carries the inscription Suwa Hosshō Kamishimo Daimyōjin, while on the second banner from right, flanking the legendTenshō Kōtaijingū are inscribed Hachiman daibosatsu and Kasuga Daimyōjin.The earliest recorded usages of 'shining/apparent deity' are found in sources such as in the Sumiyoshi-taisha Jindaiki, which refers to the three Sumiyoshi deities as 'Sumiyoshi Daimyōjin', and the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku, which refers to 'Matsuo Daimyōjin'. While at first this title did not yet seem to have the Buddhist connotations that would later be associated with it, the connection between daimyōjin with the concept of honji suijaku was reinforced by an apocryphal utterance of the Buddha often claimed to be derived from the Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka-sūtra quoted and alluded to in various medieval works, but which is not in the actual sutra's text: "After I have passed into nirvana, during the Latter Day of the Law, I shall appear as a great shining/apparent deity and save all sentient beings." Up until the early modern period, use of titles such as myōjin or gongen for many deities and their shrines were so widespread that these gods were rarely referred to by their proper names. For instance, both the god of Kashima Shrine and the shrine itself were known as 'Kashima Daimyōjin' ; the deity enshrined in Suwa Grand Shrine was called 'Suwa Daimyōjin', and so on. or Kumano Gongen ). After his death, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was deified under the name 'Toyokuni Daimyōjin'. Under Yoshida Shintō, the conferral of ranks and titles like myōjin was institutionalized, with the sect issuing out authorization certificates to shrines for a fee. The sect considered the title to be higher than the overtly Buddhist gongen as part of the sect's inversion of honji suijaku, an issue which became a point of contention with the Sannō Ichijitsu Shintō sect spearheaded by the Tendai monk Tenkai. When the Meiji government officially separated Shinto from Buddhism, official use of titles and terminology perceived as having Buddhist connotations such as myōjin, gongen or daibosatsu by shrines were legally abolished and discouraged. However, a few deities/shrines are still often referred to as myōjin in popular usage even today..
