The Ministry of Shinto was established on

September 22 Events Pre-1600 * 904 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government. * 1236 – The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of th ...

, 1871 and lasted until April 21,

1872 Events January–March * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. * February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...

, replacing the

Department of Divinities The , also known as the Department of Shinto Affairs, Department of Rites, Department of Worship, as well as Council of Divinities, was a Japanese Imperial bureaucracy established in the 8th century, as part of the ''ritsuryō'' reforms. It was fi ...

, which had been in charge of

rituals A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

and

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

of the Shinto gods since the Ritsuryo system. Although at first glance it may appear that the Ministry of Divinities, which was downgraded to an agency of the Grand Council of State, had its status diminished, it was actually intended to strengthen government involvement in the policy of

Unity of ritual and government The term refers to the unification of ritual and politics. Festival in festival-politics means "festival" and religion. The word "politics" means "festival" and politics. 、In Japan, the Oracle of miko can be traced back to the ancient theocra ...

by the emperor based on the principles of the

Proclamation of the Great Religion The was issued in the name of Emperor Meiji on January 3, 1870 (February 3). �歴代の詔勅�� p.66 河野省三内閣印刷局、1940年（国立国会図書館） It declared the "way of the gods" (Shinto) as the guiding principle of the s ...

,安丸良夫・宮地正人編『日本近代思想大系5　宗教と国家』431ページ and in the policy of making Shinto the state religion. In reality, it was intended to strengthen the government's involvement in the policy of ritual unification by the emperor based on the principles of

, and by extension, the policy of making

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

the state religion. The position of "Lord of the Divine Gions" was not created, and Fukuhami-shizu was appointed as "Daisuke of the Divine Gions". The name was changed to

Ministry of Religious Education The was a central government organization of the Empire of Japan established under the Daijō-kan system in the early Meiji period for the purpose of national indoctrination through religion control. Outline In 1872 April 21, the Ministry of S ...

after only six months in order to strengthen the

by the

Evangelism Bureau The was one of the government offices in Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1912). On July 8, 1869 (August 15, 1869), Proclamation of the Great Religion, was established for the purpose of proselytizing, and a director, vice director, lecture ...

, which was established at the end of the period of the Ministry of Shinto (Proclamation No. 82, issued on March 14, 1872 (April 21, 1872)). The administrative part of the court rituals was separated and transferred to the Shikibu-ryo (March 15 notice, March 23 (April 30, 1872), No. 92).{{Cite book , last=川出 , first=清彦 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sUEyAQAAIAAJ , title=大嘗祭と宮中のまつり , publisher=名著出版 , year=1990 , page=211 , isbn=9784626013767 , format=snippet (At this time, the ceremonial dormitories were still directly under the Dajokan, and it was not until 1877 that they were transferred to the

Ministry of the Imperial Household The was a division of the eighth century Japanese government of the Imperial Court in Kyoto, instituted in the Asuka period and formalized during the Heian period. The Ministry was reorganized in the Meiji period and existed until 1947, befor ...

. See Shikibu-kan#Meiji Government).

References

1872 disestablishments Government agencies established in 1871 State Shinto Former government ministries of Japan Pages with unreviewed translations