The History Of Shinto

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Shinto, a set of traditions older than Buddhism and Christianity, had undergone many changes from paleolithic animism to the introduction of Buddhism and the rise of the samurai. The next period of major change for Shinto and Japan as a whole was the cultural metamorphosis later known as the Meiji Restoration (1868 A.D. – 1912 A.D.). This era marks the birth of modern Japan as well as modern Shinto traditions, which remnants are seen amongst the Baby Boomers and even the Lost Generation.
The imperial line, which had been largely out of power since the 1100s, regained complete power during the Meiji Restoration. To do so, the Chrysanthemum throne had to forcefully dispersed the Tokugawa Shogunate with the backing of the people afflicted by …show more content…

Due to its age and influence, the Ise Shrine was at the head of the newly established hierarchy of shrines and required for all citizens to be registered to a major shrine. Having one’s name attached to a shrine continues to prevail among the Lost Generation, but it is now a voluntary formality. Notwithstanding, the lavish state assets given to Shinto went away in the early 1870s when the government downgraded the department of Shinto until it was absorbed by the Department of Education. The government reasoned that the priests did not seem to grasp the political climate of Japan. The structure of Shinto radically changed again in the 1880s when it was split into two bodies: State Shinto and Sect Shinto. State Shinto was created to encompass all local shrines and its registries while Sect Shinto housed thirteen independent, yet government supervised, sects of Shinto. In Sect Shinto, each sect was its own religion and was held to the same standards as Christianity and Buddhism. Sect Shinto and the other religions present in Japan were responsibility of keeping the nation’s spiritual peace. However, government regulation limited the sects’ teachings to only “religious” …show more content…

America occupied Japan from 1945 to 1952 in hopes of restructuring Japan’s government. First, the Allied Forces dismantled State Shinto and unentangled Shinto, along with all other religions, from the government to create a separation of church and state. Secondly, the new Japanese government shut down many sects of Shinto and Buddhism that were thought to be nationalistic before finally pulling out of the domain of religion all together. Thirdly, Allied Forces removed any Shinto inspired pledges from school systems and had a part in reworking textbooks to reflect the separation of religion. Finally, yet most devastatingly, Emperor Hirohito, Emperor Meiji’s grandson, dispelled the idea that he was a divine figure by declaring in his first public radio broadcast that he was only human. This admission destroyed what was left of the nationalism ideal of divine forces protecting Japan, if the war and occupation had not

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