How Did Shinto Influence The Government

Shinto’s influence on the government has promoted the respectful interactions between its citizens. Japan’s emperors were chosen through the Sun Line, a clan called the Yamato clan that claimed to be decedents from the sun goddess, Amaterasu Okami (Andrea). This portrayed the emperor as a divine ruler for the citizens and through the emperor, Shinto practice was spread and encouraged throughout the state. Shrines would be funded by the emperor and Shinto ceremonies were used in the imperil court. An example of this can be seen in the jingiryd, a set of laws which instituted ceremonies to the kami (Toshio). The following is what the jingiryd ceremony guidelines covered, the season, title, and content of official annual ceremonies; imperial succession ceremonies and imi (seclusion to avoid things tabooed); the supervision and administration of ceremonies; dharai (an official ceremony to exorcise evils and offenses from people); and the administration of government shrines (Toshio).
The jingiryd accounted for different ceremonies that included the initiation of government officials, installation of shrines, and pardoning of wrong doings.
These ceremonies also gave proof of the emperor’s decent from heaven, essentially reinforcing Shinto ideas and practices within the government. The emperor and officials promoting of the Shinto practices led citizens to practice Shintoism as well and with the whole state practicing the same religion it created a sense of unity. It can be shown in Sandvik’s work called Showcasing Shinto the impact of how kami untied the country. Sandvik stated that the creation of a system of kami cults during the Nara and Heian period put the government in control of “over nearly 3000 shrines in a strategy possible aimed at gaining territorial and social control” (Sandvik). Japan was united through Shinto belief, utilized by the emperor and effectively creating the respect for the kami’s
power.
Works Cited
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Anesaki, Masaharu. “The Shinto Religion and The Communal System, Early Stages and Survival.” History of Japanese Religion, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1930, pp. 1–47
Andrea, Alfred J., and James H. Overfield. “Japan: Creating a Distinctive Civilization .” Human Record: Sources of Global History, Seventh ed., vol. 1, Cengage Learning, 2011, pp. 252–253. Human Record: Sources of Global History.
Bernard, Rosemarie. “The Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale.” Shinto | Religion | Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, Harvard University , 3 Nov. 2017, fore.yale.edu/religion/shinto/.
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Teeuwen, Mark, and Bernhard Scheid. “Tracing Shinto in the History of Kami Worship .” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies , 28 Oct. 2017.
Yamakage, Motohisa, et al. The Essence of Shinto: Japan's Spiritual Heart. Kodansha USA, 2012.