This is part 30 of my series on Shinto as a civil religion, you can find the rest of the series here.
After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the Allied forces occupied the country. One of their first actions was to have the Japanese emperor renounce his divine status in a speech to the people on January 1, 1946. This speech, combined with the subsequent separation of Shinto from the state, effectively ended the dissemination of civil religion as it had existed from 1868 to 1945.
Once Shinto became merely another religion, with no state support or intervention, it lost much of the authority it had gained through its association with the state. However, following the end of the Allied occupation, certain elements of the Japanese government, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s, attempted to restore some of this authority to Shinto. For example, there have been recurring debates over whether visits by prime ministers to Yasukuni Shrine violate the constitutional separation of religion and state.
This dilemma stems from the question of whether a prime minister visits the shrine in a personal capacity (protected by freedom of religion) or as an official representative of the state, which would be unconstitutional. Over time, this distinction has become increasingly difficult to discern. By 1985, these visits became less private, with government cars and official titles being used, making them appear more formal.
Yasukuni Shrine, as a symbol of Japan’s wartime brutality, remains a contentious issue. The debate over political visits to the shrine persists, as several Japanese politicians have continued the practice. In 2013, Shinzo Abe became the first Japanese prime minister to visit the shrine since 1985. However, no emperor has visited Yasukuni since certain war criminals were enshrined there in the 1980s.
Public Opposition to State Support for Yasukuni Shrine
The Japanese public is not blind to Yasukuni Shrine’s symbolic significance. When parts of the government, supported by grassroots movements, attempted to reinstate state funding for the shrine multiple times between the 1950s and the 1980s, they faced strong opposition. This resistance came from other factions within the government and large segments of the public. These attempts to reinstate state support were repeatedly rejected, citing the constitutionally mandated separation of religion and state, as well as freedom of religion.
Secularization of Shinto Practices
Despite the official separation of Shinto from the state, certain Shinto traditions continued as cultural practices. For example, ground purification rituals before construction projects remained widespread. In 1977, the Supreme Court ruled these rituals as non-religious, declaring them secular traditions so ingrained in society that they no longer held religious significance.
The court further clarified that not all religious activities were prohibited for the state—only cases where direct support for a specific religion was evident. This ruling demonstrates how elements of Shinto were secularized and continued to be practiced without violating constitutional law.
Emperor Naruhito and Shinto Rituals
When Emperor Naruhito was enthroned, another debate arose regarding the relationship between state and religion. His enthronement ceremony included a state-funded Shinto ritual during which he received the imperial regalia, symbols traditionally associated with the goddess Amaterasu. Critics argued that this ritual violated the separation of religion and state and revived memories of the emperor’s deification under civil religion.
The Legacy of Civil Religion
While State Shinto was abolished after World War II, elements of civil religion continue to linger in modern Japan. The government no longer has a monopoly on truth or authority over religion, but discussions and controversies persist, particularly regarding the relationship between the state and Shinto.
Public opposition to restoring state support for Shinto, combined with the legal safeguards of freedom of religion, makes a revival of civil religion in its pre-1945 form unlikely. Today, the civil religion that once defined State Shinto survives primarily as a cultural legacy rather than a state-driven ideology.
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Sources
Payne, Ed og Wakatsuki, Yoko “Japanese Prime Minister Abe visits controversial Yasukuni war shrine”. CNN. CNN.com. <https://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/25/world/asia/japan-pm-war-shrine/index.html>.
Unknown. “Controversy over separation of state and religion in Japan rekindled after Shinto imperial rite”. Japan Times. Japantimes.co.jp. <https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/05/01/national/separation-state-religion-controversy-rekindled-shinto-linked-imperial-succession-rite/>. 25/05/21
Hardacre, Helen. Shinto and the State, 1868-1988. Princeton University Press: 2020. Pp. 146-158, 162-163.
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