 Along with the ideas of Buddhism and Hinduism, the culture of Indian deities traveled across the whole of Asia. Very interestingly, more than 80% of Japanese gods are originally Indian gods. This should be recognized by Japanese people. The bottom of Japanese culture, Indian culture is very strongly imprinted and developed in the Japanese way. When the Japanese studied Sanskrit in the 8th and 9th centuries, Sanskrit was synonymous with the Siddham script. This was used for writing Sanskrit since the 5th century in India. Thus, Japan and India were very closely connected. If you go to Japanese tomb, you may find Siddhan letters. So perhaps, Japan is a time capsule of Indian culture. Already, India disappeared. In Japan, they also used the Indian letters for writing of sacred syllables or Bidak saras, which have the power of mantras. One of the most revered deities of Japan is Saraswati. There are scores of shrines built to her. In many ways, the original concept of Saraswati and her association with the natural order and good fortune are very well preserved in Japan. She is often visualized as a sacred body of water. The annals of the Todaiji Temple mentioned that the celebration of the worship of Lakshmi and Saraswati was held for the first time in this temple in 722 AD. Ever since, it has been an annual celebration. In 1836, Saito Sachio wrote a guidebook to the Edo area or modern Tokyo. Saraswati was mentioned as the most popular deity here at that time. Worship of Lakshmi was done to ensure the peace of the land, wind and rain in good season, good harvests, the joy of the people and the good of all sentient beings. The great intellectual genius of Japan was Kokai or Kobo Daishi of the 9th century. He learned the Sanskrit script from the Kashmiri Acharya Pragya. Kobo Daishi placed emphasis on a knowledge of Sanskrit. He said that the Japanese have had to rely upon translations to study Buddhism. However, the true words in the original language are exceedingly important. Every word has a profound meaning. A shrine was dedicated to Varuna in the Fudodo Sanctuary in Tokyo in 1836. The temple also has a representation of Kamadeva. He is worshipped by many young couples. There are many temples dedicated to Yama in Japan. In the 7th century, Prince Shotoku created the nation state of Japan after vanquishing his rivals. He took the term Tenno for emperor from Sanskrit texts. Havan or Homa continues in Japan where it is called Goma. Goma in the Shingon and Tendai Buddhist sects of Japan has striking parallels with early Hindu rites of Agni worship. There are also deep similarities with the later Tantric tradition. The Tantric Shingon school of Japan sings Sanskrit hymns. To this day, followers of the sect perform their worship in 1200 temples throughout Japan. A Chinese sutra compares the cosmic force of the mantra with the mighty roar of a rising flood. The mantras were transcribed into ideograms and to conserve their full power they were also written in Siddham. Indian letters to a Japanese are sacred and stand for divine beings. To this day, the Japanese write mantras in Siddham. Every god has his own Bijakshara. Every temple gives much importance to those Bijaksharas because they are equal to God. Mist surrounds the legend of Bodhidharma. Tradition points out that he was a prince of Kanchipuram in South India. The Japanese form of his name is Bodhidharma. It is very close to the Tamil form which is Bodhidharma. Zen was taken to Japan in the 12th century by Isai. Its influence on Japanese art, attitudes and language has been profound. Zen Buddhism became very popular because it says that life is a fleeting phenomenon. And the samurai, when they went to war, they were never sure that they would come back. When we sit down in a Zen monastery, we have to really do very hard penance. And hard work in Japan is perfection. So, the Zen tradition gave them a perfection in work, which became a very important part of the modern development, perfection in everything. Japan is the one country where Buddhism is flourishing in all its facets. Here, technology and transcendence are living together. Besides the Buddha, so many ancient Indian deities and practices are preserved in these temples. And Indian feels quite at home in Japan.