Kasuga DeerMandala, early 15thcentury, Hanging scroll: ink, color, gold pigment, and cut gold on silk; with ornate brass rollers, incised design., without mounting: 37 3/16 × 13 3/4 in. (94.5 × 35cm), A distinctive feature of Japanese Buddhism is the designation of specific physical locations as sacred to both the imported Buddhist and native Shinto traditions. The Kasuga Shrine, near Nara, is one such sacred site. By the twelfth century, gods (kami) affiliated with this Shinto shrine were also understood as local manifestations of the Buddhist deities affiliated with the nearby Kōfuku-ji Temple. Deer, which had long been associated with the Kasuga Shrine and remain protected there today, served as the vehicles of these deities. In this painting, a deer strolls at the foot of the sacred Kasuga Mountain and carries a mirror—a long-standing political and religious symbol in Japan—set on a branch of a sakaki tree, which is also sacred to the site. Portraits of the five principal Buddhi