The rōmon, known as the plum blossom gate (Sakura-mon), was donated to the shrine in the late 16th century by Toyotomi Hideoshi, a powerful prince (daimyo) and great unifier of Japan. A second group of guards protects the portal on both sides of the entrance. Two guards at the gate (monshu), in this case archers (zuijin), watch the entrance. The Shinto archers in Heian period clothing are the most common form of guardians at Jinja, but here they have meaning. They may be a subtle nod to the legend that a young aristocrat named Hata-no-Irogu used sticky rice cakes (mochi) for archery targets when one of them suddenly turned into a white crane. The crane flew into a field and turned again into rice plants that yielded a huge harvest. Hata-no-Irogu, dedicated Inari a shrine on the spot, which eventually became Fushimi Inari Taisha. Historical facts show that the shrine was founded in the early 8th century and relocated around a hundred years later. The famous Buddhist monk and founder of the Shingon sect, Kūkai, requested the relocation of the shrine when he took over the abbot of Tō-ji (east temple). He made Inari the protector of Tō-ji, and the Kami has been associated with the esoteric Shingon school ever since.