STATE SHINTO

Japanese Kokka Shinto, nationalistic official religion of Japan from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 through World War II. It focused on ceremonies of the imperial household and public Shinto shrines. State Shinto was founded on the ancient precedent of saisei itchi, the unity of religion and government. Traditionally, the kami (gods, or sacred powers), the Japanese emperor, the citizens, and the nation were all considered descendants of common ancestors, and the prosperity of all was assured by coincidence between human politics and the will of the gods. But Shinto came to be dominated by Buddhism and neo-Confucianism, and the emperor was overshadowed by military rulers. Various efforts to restore Shinto and the emperor came to naught in the medieval period. Finally, in the midst of the complex social and cultural changes that accompanied Japan's modernization during the Meiji period (18681912), the government set about to institutionalize Shinto. It assumed control of the Shinto shrines, established a Department of Shinto (later changed to the status of a Shinto Ministry), and adopted restrictive policies against the other religions, including sect movements within Shinto. Though the 1889 constitution included a nominal guarantee of religious freedom, obeisance at Shinto shrines was considered the patriotic duty of all Japanese, a point of view in time adopted by Christians, Buddhists, and followers of Ky oha Shinto (q.v.). The administration of the country's more than 100,000 Shinto shrines was carried on by the government; Shinto moral teaching (shushin) was made compulsory in the schools, and the divine status of the emperor was fostered by the political authorities. State Shinto was abolished in 1945 by a decree of the Allied occupation forces that forbade government subsidy and support to Shinto shrines and repudiated the emperor's divinity. The ban was continued in the postwar constitution. Most of the shrines previously administered by the government reorganized themselves as Shrine Shinto (q.v.).