The “separation of gods and buddhas” at Omiwa Jinja in Meiji Japan

Abstract

The development of Shinto during the Meiji period constitutes one of the most fascinating phenomena of modern Japanese history, especially in view of the far-reaching effect that the State Shinto of the late Meiji period had on many aspects of Japanese life. But although the nature of Meijiperiod Shinto has been widely researched, far less attention has been directed to the genesis of the movement as an intellectual, political, and religious force. Since many of the keys for understanding the later development of State Shinto are found in the years of the Meiji Restoration, research on this period—which could be called the shinbutsu bunri (separation of gods and Buddhas) period—is essential if we are to comprehend the full signi≥cance of the Shinto movement. The term shinbutsu bunri refers to the separation of Shinto and Buddhism (actually the expulsion of Buddhism from syncretic ShintoBuddhist sanctuaries) that occurred from the spring of 1868. This separation was one of the central events in the formation of modern Japanese Shinto. The present article analyzes the events of the shinbutsu bunri period at one of Japan’s most important shrines, Omiwa Jinja in Nara Prefecture. The events connected with this shrine from 1868 to the early 1870s provide an interesting reflection of what happened to religious institutions throughout Japan during that period.