 During the Tokugawa period, some of the Shinto gods, especially Hachiman, Myoshin, Shinmei and Tenjin, "came to be seen as guardian deities of "nanshoku"" (male–male love).From religious circles, same-sex love spread to the warrior (samurai) class, where it was customary for a boy in the "wakashū" age category to undergo training in the martial arts by apprenticing to a more experienced adult man.The relationship was based on the typical "nenja," who loves, and the typically younger "chigo", who is loved.