Shinshō (797–873) was a Japanese Buddhist monk of the Shingon sect and founder of the Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji

Eikan-do Zenrin-ji

For other temples by similar names, see Zenrin-ji.Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji is the head temple for the Seizan branch of Japan's Jōdo shū Buddhist sect, located in the town of Eikandō, in Kyoto's Sakyō-ku...

 in Heian-kyō

Heian-kyo

Heian-kyō , was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180....

 (modern Kyoto).

He studied Vajrayana

Vajrayana

Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...

 - or Esoteric - buddhism under Kūkai

Kukai

Kūkai , also known posthumously as , 774–835, was a Japanese monk, civil servant, scholar, poet, and artist, founder of the Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism. Shingon followers usually refer to him by the honorific titles of and ....

 (Kōbō Daishi) at the Tō-ji

To-ji

is a Buddhist temple of the Shingon sect in Kyoto, Japan. Its name means East Temple, and it once had a partner, Sai-ji . They stood alongside the Rashomon, the gate to the Heian capital. It is formally known as which indicates that it previously functioned as a temple providing protection for the...

and became the third master of Shingon in 843. Rising to a higher position in the Tō-ji in 847, he then founded the Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji in 853.