Ryōbu Shintō, by interpreting the kami as manifestations of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, reshaped the visual language of Japanese religion into a shared symbolic field. Through the honji suijaku paradigm, kami that had long been approached through aniconic symbols such as mirrors or swords were granted anthropomorphic form modeled on Buddhist icons. These new images frequently bore halos, mudras, lotus pedestals, and bodhisattva-style crowns and ornaments, signaling that the indigenous deities were to be contemplated as enlightened beings. In this way, the very bodies of the kami became visual commentaries on their relationship to the Buddhist cosmos, giving concrete form to what had previously been a more fluid, numinous presence.

This doctrinal vision was inscribed not only in single figures but also in complex visual programs. Shrine–temple complexes brought torii, shrine halls, pagodas, and Buddha images into a single sacred landscape, so that architecture, sculpture, and painting collectively affirmed the equivalence of kami and Buddhas. Mandalas were adapted to include kami within the Buddhist universe, while shrine mandalas (miya mandara) rendered shrine grounds as if they were mandalic realms, blending topographical detail with Buddhist symbolic geography. In such works, kami might appear in peripheral zones or in special sections, visually positioned within Buddhist hierarchies yet still rooted in their own local terrains of mountains, trees, and animals.

Sculptural practice also shifted under this syncretic current. Leading Buddhist ateliers and sculptors applied temple-based techniques and materials—gilded wood, lacquer, and polychrome—to the making of kami statues, often depicting them in courtly dress yet marked by Buddhist attributes. Sets of images paired kami with their honji-butsu, sometimes housing a concealed Buddhist icon as the “original” and a more accessible kami image as its “trace,” thereby materializing the layered structure of manifestation and source. Narrative paintings and origin stories further elaborated this relationship, showing kami appearing as monks or bodhisattvas and intertwining shrine motifs with Buddhist symbols such as lotuses, scrolls, and ritual implements. Through these intertwined forms, Ryōbu Shintō allowed art, iconography, and sculpture to serve as a contemplative bridge between the native spirits of place and the universal Buddhas they were understood to reveal.