Betto
Encyclopedia
is a term which originally indicated the head of an institution serving temporarily as the head of another one, but which came to mean also the full-time head of some institution. The Kamakura period
samurai
Wada Yoshimori
, for example, was the first bettō of the shogunate's Samurai-dokoro
.
, the Meiji period
law that forbade the mixing of Shinto and Buddhism. A shrine had various bettō, from the seibettō (head monk) to the shūri bettō (monk in charge of repairs). Those not associated with religious duties were called zoku bettō. Among the shrines that appointed bettō are Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, and Hakone Jinja. They were particularly common at Hachiman and gongen
shrines, and their mandate lasted three or six years.
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
Wada Yoshimori
Wada Yoshimori
was an early Kamakura period military commander. A gokenin of the Kamakura shogunate, he was the first director of the Samurai-dokoro.He was the son of Miura Yoshiaki and grandson of Sugimoto Yoshimune, making him a descendant of the Heike. Among his sons were Wada Yoshinao, Asahina Yoshihide, and...
, for example, was the first bettō of the shogunate's Samurai-dokoro
Samurai-dokoro
The Samurai-dokoro was an office of the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunates....
.
Religious use of the term
A bettō was a monk who performed Buddhist rites at shrines and jingūji (shrines part of a temple) before the shinbutsu bunriShinbutsu Bunri
The term in Japanese indicates the forbidding by law of the amalgamation of kami and buddhas made during the Meiji Restoration. It also indicates the effort made by the Japanese government to create a clear division between native kami beliefs and Buddhism on one side, and Buddhist temples and...
, the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
law that forbade the mixing of Shinto and Buddhism. A shrine had various bettō, from the seibettō (head monk) to the shūri bettō (monk in charge of repairs). Those not associated with religious duties were called zoku bettō. Among the shrines that appointed bettō are Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, and Hakone Jinja. They were particularly common at Hachiman and gongen
Gongen
During the era of shinbutsu shūgō , in Japan a During the era of shinbutsu shūgō (religious syncretism of kami and buddhas), in Japan a During the era of shinbutsu shūgō (religious syncretism of kami and buddhas), in Japan a ( was believed to be a Japanese kami which was really just the local...
shrines, and their mandate lasted three or six years.