Wikipedia
or is a folk faith in Japan with Chinese Taoist origins, influenced by Shintō, Buddhism and other local beliefs. A typical event related to the faith is called , held on the Kōshin days that occur every 60 days in accordance with the sexagenary cycles calendar. On this day some believers stay awake to prevent , entities believed to live inside the body of believers from leaving it during that night in order to report the good and specially the bad deeds of the believer to the god Ten-Tei.
It is not clearly certain when such custom arrived or came into fashion in Japan, although it is believed that by some time in the 9th century it had been already practiced at least by aristocrats. In the Muromachi period, Buddhist monks started to write about the Kōshin, which led to wider popularity of the faith among public. Numerous monuments or pillars called (or also ) were erected all over the country and the faith remained very popular through the Edo period. When the Meiji Government issued the Shinto and Buddhism Separation Order in 1872, folk beliefs were turned down as superstitious, Kōshin belief too losing popularity as a result.
Today, the Kōshin belief still survives, although it is far less popular and receives smaller recognition than it once did, due to the absence of any central organization to help promote such faith because of its folkloric nature. While many Kōshin-tō were moved, for example, to inside Buddhist temples or even to private houses to be protected, there are many remaining along historical roads as well. There are also well maintained , built in respect for the Kōshin, sometimes attached to Buddhist temples, or otherwise in stand-alone.