The High Culture of the Muramachi Period

The Muramachi period also saw the rise of a specialized merchant class, which handled trade among the various fiefdoms of local lords. The native Japanese observances we call Shinto began to take a backseat during this period. Large tea parties became more and more common, laying the groundwork for the modern Japanese tea ceremony. Most Japanese practiced both Shinto and Buddhism to some extent, and a sort of dual theology evolved whereby the Shinto gods were treated as aspects of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. To this day you can find Buddhist temples with small Shinto shrines still on their grounds.