Department of Divinities

Jingi-kan (神祇官, Department of Divinities), also known as the Department of Shinto Affairs, was a Japanese Imperial bureaucracy established in the 8th century, as part of the ritsuryō reforms.

History

This Shinto administrative hierarchy was an intentional mirror of its Chinese counterpart, the Ministry of Rites (禮部). The Jinji-kan was created to be functionally distinct from its larger administrative corollary, the Daijō-kan.

The Department lost considerable power in feudal times, but it was reinstated in 1869 with the onset of the Meiji period. It went through different forms and names during the 19th and 20th centuries, and was dismantled on 2 February 1946. On 3 February 1946, the Association of Shinto Shrines took charge of the administration of the shrines.

Functions

The Jingi-kan was charged with oversight of Shinto clergy and rituals for the whole country. It was headed by the Jingi-haku (神祇伯). From the 10th century to the 15th, the Shirakawa Hakuo family held this position continuously.

A system of regular offerings (hōhei) to 3,132 kami enshrined across the nation was instituted.

References

• Breen, John and Mark Teeuwen (2000) Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press 10-ISBN 0-8248-2362-1/13 ISBN 978-0-8248-2362-7; 10-ISBN 0-8248-2363-X/13-ISBN 978-0-8248-2363-4; OCLC 43487317
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland OCLC 5850691

External links

• Kokugakuin University, Encyclopedia of Shinto, "Concepts of Emperor and State" (Jingi-kan)