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The government did cause the diffusion of the idea that Shinto was the true religion of the Japanese, finally revealed after remaining for a long time hidden behind Buddhism. [5] In recent years, many historians have come to believe that the syncretism of kami and Buddhas (shinbutsu-shūgō) was just as authentically Japanese. [5] The ...
Foxes sacred to Shinto kami Inari, a torii, a Buddhist stone pagoda, and Buddhist figures together at Jōgyō-ji, Kamakura.. Shinbutsu-shūgō (神仏習合, "syncretism of kami and buddhas"), also called Shinbutsu-konkō (神仏混淆, "jumbling up" or "contamination of kami and buddhas"), is the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism that was Japan's main organized religion up until the Meiji period.
A torii gateway to the Yobito Shrine (Yobito-jinja) in Abashiri City, HokkaidoThere is no universally agreed definition of Shinto. [2] According to Joseph Cali and John Dougill, if there was "one single, broad definition of Shinto" that could be put forward, it would be that "Shinto is a belief in kami", the supernatural entities at the centre of the religion. [3]
The impetus for denominational Shinto was the separation of Shinto and Buddhism, which began in 1868 (first year of Meiji) with the revival of the Department of Divinities and the separation of Shinto and Buddhism, which started with the Shinto-Buddhist Hanzen Order, a premodern imperial government directive. [8]
Shinto is a blend of indigenous Japanese folk practices, beliefs, court manners, and spirit-worship which dates back to at least 600 CE. [7]: 99 These beliefs were unified as "Shinto" during the Meiji era (1868–1912), [6]: 4 [12] though the Chronicles of Japan (日本書紀, Nihon Shoki) first referenced the term in the eighth century.
The government closely related Shinto with the holy emperor, and they used Shinto as a tool for their state governance. State Shinto was clearly distinguished from private sects of the Shinto religion. It was a model of ideological state governance to form State Shinto and to promulgate the Imperial Rescript on Education.
It is believed that the Shinto side adopted the Secular Shrine Theory in part because they argued that Shinto is different from Buddhism and Christianity, that is, it is unique to Japan. [7] On the contrary, from the Buddhist and Christian sides, the argument was that Shinto is a religion because it has an object of veneration.
The government's official policy of separation of Shinto and Buddhism (Shinbutsu bunri) of the time, while not directly responsible for this destruction, provided the trigger that released pent-up energy. Considering Buddhism's close association with the Tokugawa, it cannot be a surprise that Buddhist monks were regarded as state agents and ...