Kobo Daishi, born Kukai, was the founder of the Shingon school of Esoteric Buddhism in Japan and is traditionally believed to have entered eternal meditation, or nyujo, at Mount Koya rather than dying in the conventional sense. Followers hold that he remains in a state of deep samadhi within his mausoleum at Okunoin, awaiting the coming of the future Buddha Miroku, and this belief has made the site a major destination for memorial rites and prayers for the deceased. His association with the afterlife and memorial practice stems largely from this enduring tradition of continuous meditation and the veneration surrounding his tomb.