弘法大師(空海)
Kobo Daishi, known in life as Kukai, was a Heian-period Buddhist monk and scholar who founded the Shingon school of esoteric Buddhism in Japan after studying in Tang China. He is widely credited with cultural achievements such as establishing the monastic center at Mount Koya, and he is traditionally associated with pilgrimage traditions, including the Shikoku 88-temple route, that address memorial devotion and spiritual protection. Popular tradition holds that Kukai did not die but remains in eternal meditation at Mount Koya, awaiting the future Buddha Maitreya, and he continues to be venerated as a revered teacher connected to safety and remembrance of the deceased.