Shinto priest

"Shinshoku" redirects here. For the L'Arc-en-Ciel song, see Shinshoku (Lose Control).

Shinto priests (神職, shinshoku) are members of the clergy at a Shinto shrine (神社, jinja) responsible for maintaining the shrine and leading worship of the kami there.^[1] In Japanese, they are also commonly referred to as kannushi (神主, "divine master (of ceremonies)"). The characters for kannushi are sometimes also read as jinshu with the same meaning. Kannushi originally referred only to the highest-ranking member of the clergy at a shrine, but has since expanded to become a collective term for all members of the clergy, synonymous with shinshoku.

Another office called shinkan (神官; lit. "religious official") used to exist, but the position was abolished during the removal of Shinto from government oversight during the establishment of the Japanese constitution.^[2]

History

Very little is known about the operation of shrines in ancient Japan until the advent of the jingi (神祇) cult of shrines under imperial authority during the Heian period, whose priests came from hereditary lines. Most shrines in Japan, however, were not included in the jingi cult and there is almost nothing known about them.^[3] In the 8^th century, imperial offerings to local shrines were distributed to provincial governors, but by the time the Engi shiki was compiled in the 10^th century, these offerings were instead going to hafuri (祝; priests) who were selected from officially assigned kanbe (神戸; kami household), when there was one present, or from a commoner selected to become hafuri by the governor when there was no kanbe.^[4]

After the jingi cult and the imperial court declined over the following centuries, shrines and shrine-temple complexes struggled to maintain their lands, particularly from the 14^th century onwards.^[5] Most village shrines during this period were too poor to have a dedicated priest, and so rituals were conducted by laypeople.^[6] Many of these village shrines came to be run by exclusive groups of landowners later referred to as miyaza (宮座), and the village priest was selected from the miyaza members, with the priest often also being the village headman, though it is possible that priests were selected by lottery in ancient times.^[7][6] While miyaza membership was largely limited to men, there were some cases of all-female or mixed miyaza, though the women usually played a lesser role in mixed miyaza.^[8] Larger complexes sought to encourage pilgrimages to bring in funds, which in some cases led to the creation of non-clergy positions such as sendatsu (先達) and onshi (御師; also read oshi), particularly in the case of Ise Shrine.^[9]

Yoshida Shinto was established in the 15^th century by Yoshida Kanetomo who gained the power to distribute shrine licenses as a representative of the emperor.^[10] By the mid-16^th century, his descendant was distributing these licenses far and wide, and having these licenses determined what ritual garb a priest could wear.^[11] The Shrine Article (神社条目, jinja jōmoku) of 1665 detailed how shrine priests obtained court rank, and gave the Yoshida family control over these assignments of rank and the types of ritual garb priests wore, bringing thousands of provincial priests under Yoshida authority.^[12] The Yoshida family was opposed by the Shirakawa family in the 18^th century who similarly recruited regional priests.^[13]

The Yoshida and Shirakawa family lost their power with the Meiji Restoration (1868), though they retained some control over imperial rites.^[14] The priesthood was put under the authority of the newly established Bureau of Rites and the Yoshida and Shirakawa licenses were invalidated, requiring priests to be recertified through a national examination, with some removed and replaced.^[15] Hereditary priest positions were outlawed in 1871, though many shrine family lines remained intact.^[16]

The 1880s and 1890s saw the first unified priesthood when priests across Japan began an organized movement to reestablish the Department of Divinities in order to protect their livelihood, resulting in the establishment of the Fellowship of Shinto Priests (神官同志会, Shinkan Dōshikai) which was renamed to the National Association of Shinto Priests.^[17] Several regional organizations were also formed at this time, and priests were urged to refrain from the religious acts of preaching and proselytizing and instead remain enactors of rituals.^[18]

The Association of Shinto Shrines was established in 1946 after the dismantling of the State Shinto system during the American occupation following World War II which removed all government support of shrines.^[19] While the Association’s primary agenda is to rebuild the public function of Shinto rituals, individual priests are free to operate as they wish.^[20] A 2024 survey on religious organizations by the Agency for Cultural Affairs found there are approximately 65,000 Shinto priests in Japan, though the definition of priest was left open for the answering organization to determine.^[21]

Description

Within the same shrine, such as at Ise Jingū or Ōmiwa Shrine, there can be different types of kannushi at the same time; these may be called, for example, Ō-kannushi (大神主), Sō-kannushi (総神主), or Gon-kannushi (権神主).^[22][23] Kannushi are assisted in their religious or clerical work by women called miko.

Shinto priests can marry, and their children usually inherit their position.^[24] Although this hereditary status is no longer legally granted, it continues in practice.^[25]

Vestments and ritual objects

The clothes priests wear, such as the jōe, the eboshi and kariginu, do not have any special religious significance, but are simply official garments previously used by the Imperial court.^[24] This detail reveals the close connection between kami worship and the figure of the Emperor.^[24] Other implements used by priests include a baton called shaku and a wand decorated with white paper streamers (shide) called ōnusa.

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  A Shinto priest wearing a jōe being accompanied by two miko
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  A Shinto priest in full dress, Katori Shrine
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  A Shinto priest wearing a kariginu and an eboshi hat

Duties

The duties of Shinto priests can be broken roughly into five categories:^[26]

• Ritual affairs - Preparing for and conducting rituals in the proper manner, including the preperation of edible and non-edible offerings.
• Supply and opperations - Logistical management to ensure the shrine obtains materials necessary for its operation.
• Financial affairs - Budgeting, fundraising, eliciting donations, and paying salaries.
• General/miscellaneous - General management, liasing with the Association of Shinto Shrines, etc.
• Grounds and maintenence - Cleaning and repairing the shrine and its grounds.

Education

To become a Shinto priest, a novice must study at a university approved by the Association of Shinto Shrines (神社本庁, Jinja Honchō), typically Tokyo's Kokugakuin University or Ise's Kogakkan University, or pass an exam that will certify their qualifications.^[25] Women can also become Shinto priests, and widows can succeed their husbands in their job.^[25]

Hierarchy, rank, and status

Shinto priests are given a rank (階位, kaii) and placed within a hierarchy (職階, shokkai) at their shrine which results in varying levels of relative status, though the relative importance of the shrine they work at has no affect on their status. For example, the head priest of a beppyo shrine is of equal status to a head priest of a small regional shrine. Additionally, rank and hierarchy are not the same, with hierarchy more important for determining status than rank. For example, a head priest of only seikai rank would be higher in status than an assistant priest of the meikai rank.

Ranks

The Association of Shinto Shrines has regulations that confer one of five ranks called kaii (階位) on clergy members based on their level of education and passing of exams. Up to the second highest rank, meikai (明階), can be reached through study alone. The names of the ranks come from the four virtues of Shinto: purity (浄, jō), light (明, mei), correctness (正, sei), and forthrightness (直, choku). There were originally only four ranks until 1961 when the ranks were reformed and the fourth rank of gonsekai (権正階) was added.^[27]

Jōkai (浄階): The highest rank. Given to those with a long history of contributions to Shinto research.

Meikai (明階): The rank necessary to become a head priest or assistant head priest at a beppyo shrine. A clergy member with this rank can take a head priest position at any shrine other than Ise Shrine's high head priest position which requires imperial sanction.

Seikai (正階): The rank necessary to become an assistant priest or interim head priest (宮司代務者, gūji daimusha) at a beppyo shrine.

Gonsekai (権正階): The rank necessary to become a head priest or interim head priest at a standard shrine, or a junior priest at a beppyo shrine.

Chokkai (直階): The rank necessary to become an assistant priest or junior priest at a standard shrine.

Hierarchy

The clergy of a shrine is ranked in a hierarchy called shokkai (職階). The exact hierarchy may vary based on the scale and history of the shrine but, in general, the hierarchy from highest ranking to lowest is head priest (宮司, gūji), assistant priest (禰宜, negi), and junior priest (権禰宜, gonnegi). There is generally only one head priest and one assistant priest per shrine. Some beppyo shrines have an assistant head priest (権宮司, gongūji) role ranking below the head priest and several assistant priests. An overview of their roles is that the head priest is the head of the shrine, the assistant head priest is the secondary leader, the assistant priest(s) support the head priest in their duties, and the junior priests perform general tasks. Ise Shrine is an exception in that its ranks are as follows: master of ceremonies (祭主, saishu), high head priest (大宮司, daigūji), low head priest (少宮司, shōgūji), assistant priest (negi), junior priest (gonnegi), shrine administrator (宮掌, gūshō), attendant (出仕, shusshi), and apprentice attendant (出仕前, shusshi-mae).^[28]

Other positions

Onshi

Onshi (御師; also read oshi) is a low-ranking position at a shrine responsible for leading prayers for visitors, providing lodging and tours for pilgrims, and arranging performances of kagura. They are most associated with Ise Shrine.^[29]

Lower priests

There are two positions that may be called lower priests, gūshō (宮掌) and shuten (主典), though they are not technically considered members of the clergy as they have not yet received their rank (kaii) and are only present in some special shrines, such as Ise Shrine and Atsuta Shrine. They perform some duties under the guidance of higher-ranking priests.^[30]

See also

• Miko
• Norito