to cultivate supernatural powers. In an initiation ceremony, a kami is believed to possess the young woman, and the two are then ritually "married". After this, the kami becomes her tutelary spirit and she will henceforth be able to call upon it, and a range of other spirits, in the future. Through contacting these spirits, she is able to convey their messages to the living. usually carry out their rituals independent of the shrine system. Japanese culture also includes spiritual healers known as whose work involves invoking both kami and Buddhas. History Early development Earhart commented that Shinto ultimately "emerged from the beliefs and practices of prehistoric Japan", although Kitagawa noted that it was questionable whether prehistoric Japanese religions could be accurately termed "early Shinto". It was the Yayoi period of Japanese prehistory which first left traces of material and iconography prefiguring that later included in Shinto. were worshipped at various landscape features during this period; at this point, their worship consisted largely of beseeching and placating them, with little evidence that they were viewed as compassionate entities. Archaeological evidence suggests that bronze bells, bronze weapons, and metal mirrors played an important role in -based ritual during the Yayoi period. In this early period, Japan was not a unified state; by the Kofun period it was divided among (clans), each with their own tutelary , the . Korean migration during the Kofun period brought Confucianism and Buddhism to Japan. Buddhism had a particular impact on the cults. Migrant groups and Japanese who increasingly aligned with these foreign influences built Buddhist temples in various parts of the Japanese islands. Several rival clans who were more hostile to these foreign influences began adapting the shrines of their to more closely resemble the new Buddhist structures. In the late 5th century, the Yamato clan leader Yūryaku declared himself daiō ("great king") and established hegemony over much of Japan. From the early 6th century CE, the style of ritual favored by the Yamato began spreading to other shrines around Japan as the Yamato extended their territorial influence. Buddhism was also growing. According to the Nihon Shoki, in 587 Emperor Yōmei converted to Buddhism and under his sponsorship Buddhism spread. In the mid-7th century, a legal code called was adopted to establish a Chinese-style centralised government. As part of this, the Jingikan ("Council of ") was created to conduct rites of state and coordinate provincial