Genbō was a Japanese scholar-monk and bureaucrat of the Imperial Court at Nara. He is best known as a leader of the Hossō sect of Buddhism and as the adversary of Fujiwara no Hirotsugu.

The Japanese missions to Tang China were Japanese efforts to learn Chinese culture and civilization from Tang China, in the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries. The nature of those contacts evolved gradually from political and ceremonial change into cultural exchanges, and the process accompanied growing commercial ties which developed over time.