Association of Shinto Shrines

The Association of Shinto Shrines is a Japanese religious organization that coordinates and supports Shinto shrines and promotes Shinto practice.

Shinto shrine: A place of worship in the Shinto tradition, often centered on a kami and marked by a torii gate. Shrines form the local institutions the association connects and supports.
Shinto Directive: A 1945 Allied occupation directive that ended state sponsorship and control of Shinto institutions in Japan. It dismantled the state framework from which the association emerged.
Toshihiko Izutsu: A Japanese philosopher and scholar of religion known for studies of Islamic and Asian thought. His scholarship offers a contrast to the association’s institutional religious leadership.
Shinto: Japan’s indigenous religious tradition, centered on kami, ritual practice, and sacred places. The association is one organization within the much broader Shinto tradition.
Hatsumōde: The custom of making a first shrine or temple visit at the beginning of the New Year. The association promotes shrine visits during a major annual practice.
Jinja Honchō governance: The organizational system through which the association coordinates shrine administration and activities across Japan. It explains the association’s central offices, regional structures, and relationship with member shrines.
State Shinto: The system through which the Japanese state organized and promoted shrine Shinto before 1945. The association developed after this state-managed order was abolished.
Kunio Yanagita: A Japanese folklorist whose research shaped modern studies of Japanese folk religion and rural life. His work influenced broader understandings of shrine practices beyond the association’s formal structure.
Shinto Foundation: A Japanese organization that supports Shinto education and research beyond shrine administration. Its educational and research focus differs from the association’s shrine-centered coordination.
National Foundation Day: A Japanese national holiday observed on February 11, associated with the traditional founding of Japan. The association has supported observances linking national identity and shrine tradition.

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