Hideaki

The little god Hideaki stood nearby a statue of a Buddha, thoughts running slowly through his head. Japan had been a little better since its government had been centralized. The people now had reading and writing, and watched China for inspiration. A single leader had even been chosen to look after the people. However, it had also come with fear of enemies, taxes on weapons and food for the army, and barricades.
The nation had exchanged their moral-less lifestyle for a more controlled lifestyle filled with nothing but morals and ways to live life. "The Four Truths" became a part of life, and Buddha statues- mostly wooden at the time- were erected in honor of the "god." Hideaki found it a little humorous, even, when the people began living with the belief that life is pain and that the only way to live happy would be to give up wanting.
Then came the Soga and the Monobe. It was entertaining to watch the fighting between the religious people and the corrupt government, but it did not last long. The Soga had their power snatched out from under their feet. The territory taken was renamed Asuka.
The people devoted themselves to their religion, and small kings lost power quickly. The new immigrants that moved in wanted Buddhism to be the main, but the people already living there believed in Shinto. Militaries clashed, and battles erupted in the young Japan.
Finally, Empress Suiko took over, but mostly her nephew, Prince Shotoku ruled for her. The prince, a brilliant man, had been a very devote Shintoist. He followed his uncle's lessons a lot. He had also documented history.
Nara was created sometime later. Fujiwara had had the idea for the capitol. Not surprisingly, the capitol was modeled after the Chinese and Korean people, as most everything had been modeled from the two areas, so taking hierarchy from China did not seem so bad. After that, it became an almost unspoken law: the closer you were to the palace, the more important you were.
Temple buildings were built, tying religion more to the government. To the Japanese people, the sun goddess became the imperial ruler, and the people respected her most. With Todaiji Temple and the Great Buddha, things continued to grow.
The Japanese Shinto religion always served as entertainment to Hideaki. He found it amusing that people believed gods would give ideas to people. They didn't last very long, so he found it enjoyable watching the people and listening to their stories. In fact, it was the native beliefs that mixed into other things and became a little warped that had created Shinto. To believe that gods could only do much, just as humans, was insulting, even if it were true. He could not conjure up anything he wanted, himself, no matter how he tried.
They also believed that gods could be anything, from rocks to trees, or even a person. He, himself, was a person. He had seen tree spirits, however, so he wondered; he had never dared stray too far from humans for fear that he would grow bored. "Tama, mono, Tsuchimi, and Chitsu" they called their "gods." Certain kami were even believed to be part of certain clans.
Purity, Hideaki had discovered, was very important to the Japanese people, and that he understood. He cringed when filthy men, women, and children passed him, watching several humans express their own versions of displeasure. Murder and thievery was everywhere those days, and could rarely be avoided. After all, they were not mentioned in any of the impurities.
Overall, they believed that they had better do right or they would suffer.
Honestly, Hideaki thought it was rather funny. People were rather cute in their own way, and he enjoyed the entertainment. It was for this reason that he had begun to take on a human form just to see and talk to them. He befriended several young boys and girls to play with during the day, and would turn back at night.
Hideaki was pulled from his thoughts when two boys playfully tapped him as they ran by. He hurried after them, grinning as they sighted a man would tell stories if they asked him enough. Sitting on the ground in front of the man, they listened to him tell another legend of the gods. It was long and the expressions the man made caught Hideaki's attention the most, drawing him into the creation of the Japanese land, Nihon, Land of the Rising Sun, and he could not help but grin as he rested his hands on his knees. He could see how the people here could believe such stories as these…
… Even if they were mostly true.