With the introduction of Buddhism in 522 AD, Shinto became, like the majority of religions that predominated at that time, a patriarchal institution with patriarchal ideologies. Along with religion came Chinese culture and ideologies that a woman could and should never hold a position of power. Thus, shamanesses were largely obstetricized and their status was radically degraded. The dominant male hierarchy of Chinese Confucianism and Buddhism made it increasingly impossible for shamanism to succeed in religious spheres. Women leaders were even less empowered. Thus, from this point on, Shintoism largely limited and excluded women in religious practice. There were obvious gender tensions in the Shinto tradition and this seeped into the political and social constructs of Japanese society from the Heian period to the modern Meiji period. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. I would also like to state that Shintoism at that time was mainly combined with Buddhist principles, therefore the majority of the Shinto religion became Buddhist. Women according to Shinto and Buddhist tradition were often associated with pollution. They were considered objects full of sinful characteristics; anger, jealousy, instability, etc. Because of these undesirable traits, “women were often chased out of public religious spaces because of their supposed impurity.” Because women were uncomfortable with this male domination, they often pursued careers in music, dance or theater. Historian Emiko Namihira explains why women were often associated with pollution in her book, Pollution in the Folk Belief System. "Besides death, phenomena related to human physiology, such as pregnancy, childbirth, illness, bleeding and sexual activity, are sometimes considered to cause states of pollution, and people and things that related to it can also do so. » Because of this “uncleanliness”, women were forbidden from accessing Shinto rituals and shrines. In some villages, women were even excluded from society when they were menstruating or pregnant. “The woman who was menstruating or who had just given birth was made to live in an outbuilding reserved for this purpose, separate from the house where daily life took place. These exterior buildings were called “monthly house”. During the Tokugawa period that followed, the samurai and warrior classes attempted to dissuade the villagers from continuing this custom, but without success. “Later samurai classes forbade locking women in these huts, and the Meiji period authorities also attempted to ban them by razing them. Island residents strongly opposed this, arguing that when pollution linked to menstruation or childbirth spread into daily life, it caused natural disasters, shipwrecks, etc. ". Buddhist monks also preached that enlightenment could only be achieved by men, "...man is the personification of the Buddha." “In some sects of Buddhism, it is diplomatically implied that the only way for a woman to achieve salvation is to be reincarnated as a man. The teachings even went so far as to associate women with “agents of the devil” to distract men from achieving Buddhahood. Because Buddhism came with Confucionist ideals..