Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines

1878 engraving by Yōshū Chikanobu (1838–1912). The figures represented in these three panels are: * Centre: Front. Emperor Meiji in a Western chair with his wife, Empress Shōken, seated in the foreground. The Imperial couple are accompanied behind and in the flanking panels with an array of Shinto kami and historical figures from Japan's past. Rear. The kami Izanami, Kunitokotatchi and Izanagi. * Right: Front. Emperor Kōmei (seated in foreground), Empress Go-Sakuramachi (here presented as a man with a false goatee), and Emperor Jinmu (carrying a rough bow and perched eagle. Rear. The kami Amaterasu (standing and holding the three Sacred Treasures of Japan) and Ninigi-no-Mikoto (who first brought to earth the Imperial regalia—the sword, Kusanagi, the mirror, Yata no Kagami, and the jewel, Yasakani no magatama). * Left: Front: Emperor Go-Momozono (clothed in red), Emperor Kōkaku (clothed in black) and Emperor Ninkō (clothed in green). Rear. The kami Hiko-hohodemi (clothed in white) and Ugayafukiaezu (clothed in yellow).

The modern system of ranked Shinto shrines (近代社格制度, Kindai Shakaku Seido, sometimes called simply shakaku (社格)) was an organizational aspect of the establishment of Japanese State Shinto. This system classified Shinto shrines as either official government shrines or "other" shrines. The official shrines were divided into

  1. Imperial shrines (kampeisha), which are parsed into minor, medium, or major sub-categories; and
  2. National shrines (kokuheisha), which are similarly categorized as minor, medium, or major.[1]

Some shrines are the "first shrines" called ichinomiya that have the highest rank in their respective provinces of Japan.

The Ise Grand Shrine stood at the top of all shrines and thus was outside the classification.[2][3]

All listed shrines on this page with the exception of Ise Grand Shrine are Beppyo shrines.

  1. ^ Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University: Glossary of Shinto Names and Terms, Kampei Taisha.
  2. ^ Holtom, D.C. (2012-11-12) [First published 1965]. The National Faith Of Japan. A Study in Modern Shinto. Routledge. p. 12. ISBN 9781136165573.
  3. ^ Bocking, Brian (1997). A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Curzon Press. p. 120. ISBN 9780700710515.

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