Secular Shrine Theory

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Major kami Amaterasu Sarutahiko Ame-no-Uzume Inari Izanagi Izanami Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Important literature Kojiki (c. 711 CE) Nihon Shoki (720 CE) Fudoki (713–723 CE) Shoku Nihongi (797 CE) Kogo Shūi (807 CE) Kujiki (807–936 CE) Engishiki (927 CE)
Shinto shrines List of Shinto shrines Ichinomiya Twenty-Two Shrines Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines Association of Shinto Shrines Shinto architecture
Practices Festivals Ritual dance Music Ritual purification Ritual incantations Kannushi Miko
See also Religion in Japan Glossary of Shinto Syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism Edo neo-Confucianism Ko-Shintō State Shinto Kokugaku Nippon Kaigi Mythical creatures History Secular Shrine Theory
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Secular Shrine Theory or Jinja hishūkyōron (神社非宗教論) was a religious policy and political theory that arose in Japan during the 19th and early 20th centuries due to the separation of church and state of the Meiji Government.^[1] It was the idea that Shinto Shrines were secular in their nature rather than religious,^[2] and that Shinto was not a religion, but rather a secular set of Japanese national traditions. This was linked to State Shinto and the idea that the state controlling and enforcing Shinto was not a violation of freedom of religion. It was subject to immense debate over this time and ultimately declined and disappeared during the Shōwa era.^[3]