After the end of World War II, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers ordered the Japanese government to disestablish State Shintō. All government financial support from public funds and all official affiliation with Shintō and Shintō shrines were also discontinued. State rites performed by the emperor were henceforth to be regarded as the religious practices of the Imperial family. These rulings were carried into the new Japanese constitution that was enacted in 1947. Presently, Shrine Shintō is faced with two serious problems. The first is determining how the traditional unifying function of Shintō can be promoted in local communities or in the nation without interfering with freedom of faith. The second is the necessity of harmonizing Shintō with rapid modernization, especially in organizing believers and dealing with human problems or the meaning of life.
The number of Shintō shrines has been decreasing since the beginning of the Meiji era, in part because a municipal unification plan in 1889 called for the shrines of tutelary kami to be combined with the municipality. At present, about 99 percent of the shrines belong to the Association of Shintō Shrines, established in 1946, and most of the others are independent or belong to small groups.
About 15 percent of 16,251 Sect Shintō churches were damaged during World War II. Although they were not affected by the occupation policies after the war, many sects, in fact, went through difficult years because of unrest among the people and disunion within their own organizations. In 1966 Tenri-kyō proclaimed that their belief was not Shintō, and in 1973 they withdrew from the federation of Sect Shintō groups. On the other hand, numerous new religious bodies, including Shintōist groups, have emerged since 1945. How to adequately reclassify Sect Shintō, when combined with these new bodies, is a major concern of specialists on the subject.
Citation Information
Article Title: Shintō
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 13 February 2019
URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shinto
Access Date: August 26, 2019
Additional Reading
H. Byron Earhart, Japanese Religion: Unity and Diversity, 3rd ed. (1982), examines the formation, development, and interaction of religions. Joseph M. Kitagawa, Religion in Japanese History (1966, reissued 1990), is a widely used survey textbook on Japanese religious background. Studies specifically about Shintō include Naofusa Hirai (Hirai Naofusa), Japanese Shinto (1966), a brief general sketch; Stuart D.B. Picken, Shinto: Japan’s Spiritual Roots (1980), a short introduction to the origins and modern forms of Shintō; D.C. Holtom, The National Faith of Japan (1938, reprinted 1965), strong in history and political philosophy; Tsunetsugu Muraoka, Studies in Shinto Thought (1964, reprinted 1988), a dependable description of Shintō thought by an eminent philologist; Ichirō Hori, Folk Religion in Japan: Continuity and Change (1968, reprinted 1983), a good study on the religious and social background of folk Shintō; and Thomas P. Kasulis, Shinto: The Way Home (2004), a study of Shintō and contemporary Japanese culture by a religionist and comparative philosopher. Robert S. Ellwood, The Feast of Kingship (1973), describes the ancient enthronement ceremonies of Japanese emperors. Editions of the sacred books include W.G. Aston (trans.), Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, 2 vol. (1896, reissued 2 vol. in 1, 1972), a standard translation into English; and Donald L. Philippi (trans.), Kojiki (1968, reissued 1992), a translation with introduction using contemporary Japanese philological studies. Naofusa Hirai The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica