State Shinto

Empire of Japan's 50 sen banknote, featuring Yasukuni Shrine

State Shintō (国家神道 or 國家神道, Kokka Shintō) was Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto.[1]: 547  The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for priests[2][3]: 59 [4]: 120  to strongly encourage Shinto practices that emphasized the Emperor as a divine being.[5]: 8 

The State Shinto ideology emerged at the start of the Meiji era, after government officials defined freedom of religion within the Meiji Constitution.[6]: 115  Imperial scholars believed Shinto reflected the historical fact of the Emperor's divine origins rather than a religious belief, and argued that it should enjoy a privileged relationship with the Japanese state.[5]: 8 [3]: 59  The government argued that Shinto was a non-religious moral tradition and patriotic practice, to give the impression that they supported religious freedom.[3]: 59 [4]: 120  Though early Meiji-era attempts to unite Shinto and the state failed,[6]: 51  this non-religious concept of ideological Shinto was incorporated into state bureaucracy.[7]: 547 [8] Shrines were defined as patriotic, not religious, institutions, which served state purposes such as honoring the war dead;[6]: 91  this is known as Secular Shrine Theory.[9]

The state also integrated local shrines into political functions, occasionally spurring local opposition and resentment.[4]: 120  With fewer shrines financed by the state, nearly 80,000 closed or merged with neighbors.[6]: 98 [7]: 118  Many shrines and shrine organizations began to independently embrace these state directives, regardless of funding.[7]: 114  By 1940, Shinto priests risked persecution for performing traditionally "religious" Shinto ceremonies.[6]: 25 [10]: 699  Imperial Japan did not draw a distinction between ideological Shinto and traditional Shinto.[7]: 100 

US military leaders introduced the term "State Shinto" to differentiate the state's ideology from traditional Shinto practices[5]: 38  in the 1945 Shinto Directive.[5]: 38  That decree established Shinto as a religion, and banned further ideological uses of Shinto by the state.[10]: 703  Controversy continues to surround the use of Shinto symbols in state functions.[2]: 428 [10]: 706 [11]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fridell was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Shibata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Zhong was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Keene was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Earhart was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference Hardacre was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Sakamoto, Koremaru (1993). Kokka Shinto taisei no seiritsu to tenkai. Tokyo: Kobunda. pp. 165–202.
  9. ^ 均, 新田 (2020-08-10). 加藤玄智の国家神道観 [Genchi Kato's view of state Shinto]. Religious Law Research (宗教法研究) (in Japanese) (14): 199–230. Archived from the original on 2023-05-20. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  10. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Beckford was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Loo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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