Okuninushi was syncretized with Daikokuten through a phonetic overlap between Ōkuninushi and Daikoku. Their identities merged in popular worship, linking the earth deity to wealth and prosperity.
The Shichifukujin are a syncretic group: Ebisu (Shinto), Daikokuten, Bishamonten, Benzaiten, and Hotei (Buddhist), and Fukurokuju and Jurōjin (Taoist). They sail together on the treasure ship bringing good fortune at New Year.
Daikokuten, Mahākāla, and Tibetan Mahakala are transmissions of the same wrathful Buddhist protector deity — originally Shiva’s fierce aspect, absorbed into Buddhism as a dharmapāla and carried to Japan and Tibet where the figure diverged dramatically in iconography.
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