Shotoku Taishi is a true legend.

A prince who
never ascended the throne, great
protector of Buddhism and editor of the
first constitution of Japan. He is the father
figure of the country.

It was Shotoku Taishi who brought Japan out of

prehistoric times into a nation following the
Chinese model. He is at the origin of Japanese
Buddhist architecture and sculptures,
since he was the one who ordered the
construction of the first Buddhist temples.
Incidentally, he is the inventor of the word
Nihon, used to refer to Japan in Japanese.
 Shōtoku compiled the chronicles of the
government, after the Chinese model,
to make up the first book of Japanese
history. He also instituted a system of 12
court ranks, each identified by the
colour of the cap an official wore. This
scheme became one of the most
important changes in the Japanese
government, for it meant a break with
the old system of hereditary posts and
implied a bureaucracy of merit along the
Chinese model.
Official relations between Japan and China opened in 607, when
Shotoku sent Ono no Imoko as an envoy of the Japanese
emperor to Emperor Yang of the Sung dynasty with a
message which read, "The Emperor of the country where the
sun rises greets the Emperor of the country where the sun
sets." Subsequently, Japanese scholars were sent to China
to study the continental culture and Chinese political
system.
 One of Shotoku's most significant accomplishments was the
compilation of the first history of Japan in 620, a year before his
death. The history book was later burned when the residence
of the Soga family was destroyed by fire following the
assassination of Soga no Iruka, which marked the inauguration of
the Taika Reform (645). Shotoku died on Feb. 2, 621.
~Every man has his own work. Do
not let the spheres of Duty be
confused. When wise men are
entrusted with office, the
sound of praise arises. If
corrupt men hold office,
disasters and tumult multiply.~