Department of Divinities

Japanese state religion office, 700–1871

The Department of Divinities (神祇官), 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 first consolidated under Taihō Code which established the Department of Divinities (神祇官) and Daijō kan, the Council of State (太政官). However, the department and Daijō kan made its first appearance in the Asuka Kiyomihara Code. While Daijō kan handled secular administrative affairs of the country, Jingi kan oversaw almost all matters related to Shintō, particularly of kami worship. While the department existed for almost a century, there are periods of time in Japanese ancient and medieval history where jingi kan was effectively inexistent, parallel to the evolution of the ritsuryō system and Shinto, such as when the establishment of jingi kan was burned down during Ōnin War (1467 1477). Then, during the Meiji period, jingi kan was briefly reinstated in 1868 and then dissolved in 1871, succeeded by Ministry of Divinities (神祇省) and Ministry of Religion (教部省, kyōbushō). The Jingi kan was charged with oversight of Shinto clergy and rituals for the whole country.

On the thirteenth day of the third month of 1868, Emperor Meiji announced that the new Meiji government would restore direct imperial rule (王政復古, ōsei fukko) and unity of rites and government (祭政一致, saisei itchi). The department was reinstated in 1868 at the beginning of the Meiji period as a provisional step to achieve saisei itchi.

In 1870, the Meiji administration attempted to create a new national religion under the term "Great Teaching" (大教), primarily to keep Christianity from accumulating popularity and influence on the Japanese society and to reeducate the population about the significance of the imperial rule. The attempt lasted from 1870 to 1884. Consequentially, in addition to overseeing Shintō affairs, jingi kan also had the role to oversee propaganda. Then, jingi kan was demoted to 2=神祇省 (3=jingi shō), Ministry of Divinities, that lasted from 1871 to 1872, as part of the saisei itchi campaign, bringing jingi kan to an end. The goals of the Great Teaching campaign was deemed too ambiguous or too general to be able to be formed into practice, making it difficult for jingi shō to provide a theoretical and spiritual content to be spread among the public. In addition to that, jingi shō also lacked staffs to oversee their two major functions, Shintō affairs and propaganda. Because of these two reasons, jingi shō was abandoned and dissolved, and the Meiji administration established Ministry of Religion (教部省, kyōbushō), also known as Ministry of Doctrine.