State Shintō (国家神道 Kokka Shintō) has been called the state religion of the Empire of Japan, although it did not exist as a single institution and no "Shintō" was ever declared a state religion.[1] The idea of "State Shinto" was never conceived of during the imperial era, but was first proposed in 1970 by the postwar religious scholar Shigeyoshi Murakami to classify those ideals, rituals and institutions that were created by the government to promote the divinity of the emperor and the uniqueness of Japan (kokutai).[2] Murakami's book was one of the most popular books about religion in postwar Japan. While the concept has since been considered by scholars to be overreaching the actual scope of government interference in religion, it is certain that the government interfered.[3]
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In the late Edo period, numerous scholars of kokugaku believed that Shintō could become a unifying agent to center the country around the Emperor while a process of modernization was undertaken. After the Meiji Restoration, the new imperial government needed to rapidly modernize the politics and economy of Japan, and the Meiji oligarchy felt that those goals could only be accomplished through a strong sense of national unity and cultural identity.
In 1868, the new Meiji government established a government bureau, the Shintō Worship Bureau (神祇事務局 Jingi Jimukyoku) to oversee religious affairs and to administer the government-ordered separation of Buddhism from Shintō.
In 1871, all Shintō shrines throughout Japan were declared to be property of the central government, were assigned an official rank within a hierarchy and received a subsidy for their upkeep. Shrines were divided into twelve levels with the Ise Shrine (dedicated to Amaterasu, and thus symbolic of the legitimacy of the Imperial family) at the top.
Furthermore, all citizens were required to register as a parishioner of their local shrine, and each parishioner of a local shrine was automatically also a parishioner of the Ise Shrine. This was a major reverse from the Edo period, in which families were required to register with Buddhist temples, rather than Shintō shrines.
In 1872, an Office of Shintō Worship (神祇官 Jingikan) was established to develop and promote new government-centered rites of worship, and all Shintō priests officially became government employees. Thus, from a legal perspective, State Shintō was not a religion and its values came under the heading of moral instruction rather than religious teaching.[4]
This concentrated on the more important shrines; folk Shintō practices were mostly left unmolested and various fringe Shintō movements dating from the Edo period were allowed to continue under the rubric Sect Shintō.
In 1890, the Imperial Rescript on Education was issued, and students were required to ritually recite its oath to "offer yourselves courageously to the State" as well as protect the Imperial family. The practice of emperor worship was further spread by distributing imperial portraits for esoteric veneration. All of these practices, used to fortify national solidarity through patriotic centralized observance at shrines, gave pre-war Japanese nationalism a tint of mysticism and cultural introversion.[5]
Article 28 of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan reaffirmed the privileged position of Shintō, but also guaranteed freedom of religion “within limits not prejudicial to peace and order and not antagonistic to their duties as subjects”. In practice, this meant that religious groups were required to receive government approval and that their doctrines and rituals came under government scrutiny.[6]
During World War II, the government used State Shintō to encourage patriotism and to support efforts towards militarism. Noted figures in government, including Kuniaki Koiso, Heisuke Yanagawa, Kiichirō Hiranuma and Prince Kan'in Kotohito, participated in public rituals modeled after ancient ceremonies to foster a sense that supporting the war was a sacred duty.
State Shintō officially came to an end after the surrender of Japan.[7]
After Japan's defeat in World War II, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers issued the Shinto Directive and ordered the separation of the government from religious affairs during the occupation of Japan, and separation of church and state was incorporated into the 1947 Constitution of Japan.
On 1 January 1946, Emperor Shōwa issued a statement, sometimes referred to as the Ningen-sengen , in which he quoted the Five Charter Oath of Emperor Meiji and announced he was not an akitsumikami (incarnation of a god).