Point of Divergence ... In 552 AD, King Seong of Baekje, a ruler in Western Korea, sent a delegation to the court of Emperor Kinmei. Included in this retinue were several Buddhist monks and nuns who brought with them an image of Buddha and a copy of the Buddhist sutras, with an express order from the King to begin establishing Buddhism in Japan. The Buddhists found a patron in the powerful Soga clan, but the religion as slow to take up. It wasn't until Empress Suiko endorsed Buddhism and encouraged its acceptance among the Japanese people that Buddhism really took root in Japan.
What if Empeor Kinmei had expelled the Buddhist monks and nuns from Japan, keeping the country Shinto? What if the Soga clan had not taken up the cause? Would Buddhism never have taken root in Japan? How would this have changed Japan?