World Religions › Modern › Shinto, the way of the kami
State Shinto
1868–1945· Belief or practice· Chinese, Japanese & Korean
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
The system by which Japan's government, from 1868 to 1945, used Shinto shrines and reverence for the emperor to unify the nation.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
After the 1868 Meiji Restoration the government separated Shinto from Buddhism, ranked shrines nationally with Ise at the top, and paid priests as officials. It declared shrine rites a civic duty rather than a religion, so people of any faith, including colonized Koreans and Taiwanese, could be required to take part. Schools taught that the emperor descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu. In December 1945 the US occupation's Shinto Directive ended all state support.
Why it matters
It fused religion and nationalism to mobilize Japan for war and empire; its legacy shapes debates over Yasukuni Shrine and Japan's postwar separation of religion and state.
Sources and history
Meiji government decrees, the 1890 Imperial Rescript on Education, shrine ranking lists, colonial records, and the 1945 Shinto Directive; postwar studies by historians such as Murakami Shigeyoshi.
Questions and debates
Scholars debate whether 'State Shinto' was one coherent system or a postwar label for looser policies; many argue it reached full force only in the 1930s.
Connections (3)
▸Ise Grand Shrine became a symbol of State ShintoHistorical record
The connection
Under State Shinto, Ise, shrine of the sun goddess Amaterasu, revered as the emperor's divine ancestor, was placed above every other shrine in Japan. Households were urged to keep Ise talismans, schoolchildren visited on school trips, and imperial envoys reported major state events to Amaterasu there, making the shrine the nation's spiritual center.
When and where
Ise, in today's Mie Prefecture, from 1871, when the Meiji government took control of the shrine and its talismans and set it atop the national shrine system.
Historical evidence
Meiji decrees on shrine ranks and talisman distribution, Ise shrine records, and school textbooks of the period.
Questions and debates
Historians debate how much ordinary Japanese felt Ise devotion as state ideology versus older popular pilgrimage, which had drawn millions to Ise for centuries.
▸State Shinto made a state ideology of Shinto, the way of the kamiHistorical record
The connection
The Meiji government took Shinto, long blended with Buddhism and practiced locally, and reshaped it: forcibly separating it from Buddhism in 1868, ranking shrines, appointing priests, and centering it on the emperor. Officials called this shrine Shinto non-religious national ritual. After 1945 shrines became private religious bodies, the form Shinto takes today.
When and where
Japan, 1868–1945: the 1868 separation orders (shinbutsu bunri), the 1890 Imperial Rescript on Education, and the US occupation's Shinto Directive of December 15, 1945.
Historical evidence
Government decrees, shrine registers and postwar legal reforms are well documented; the Association of Shinto Shrines (Jinja Honchō) was formed in 1946.
Questions and debates
Some scholars argue Shinto as one unified religion was largely created in the Meiji era; others see deep continuity with older shrine worship.
▸State Shinto forced shrine worship on Christianity in KoreaHistorical record
The connection
In colonial Korea from the 1930s, everyone, including Christian schools and churches, was required to bow at Shinto shrines. Many Christians saw this as idolatry. Some mission schools closed rather than comply; in 1938 the Presbyterian General Assembly voted under police pressure to accept the bows. About 2,000 resisters were jailed and roughly 50 died.
When and where
Colonial Korea, mid-1930s to 1945; Pyongyang mission schools' refusals from 1935, and the 27th Presbyterian General Assembly in September 1938.
Historical evidence
Colonial government orders, church assembly minutes, missionary reports and prison records; pastor Ju Gi-cheol's death in prison in 1944 is well documented.
Questions and debates
How to judge those who complied remains painful: the issue split Korean Presbyterians after 1945, leading to the Kosin breakaway denomination in 1952. Casualty figures are estimates.