The term in Japanese Buddhist terminogy refers to the tendency in medieval and early modern Japan to keep some kami separate from Buddhism. While some kami were integrated in Buddhism, others (or at times even the same kami in a different context) were kept systematically away from Buddhism. This phenomenon had significant consequences for Japanese culture as a whole. It should not be confused with shinbutsu bunri

Shinbutsu 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...

("separation of kami and buddhas") or with haibutsu kishaku

Haibutsu kishaku

is a term that indicates a current of thought continuous in Japan's history which advocates the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan...

 ("abolish Buddhas and destroy Shākyamuni"), which are phenomenons recurrent in Japanese history and usually due to political causes. While the first assumes the acceptance of Buddhism, the second and third actually oppose it.

History

When foreign Buddhism arrived in Japan it became necessary to harmonize it with local kami beliefs. This was done in a number of ways, among them shinbutsu shūgō

Shinbutsu Shugo

, literally "syncretism of kami and buddhas" is the syncretism of Buddhism and kami worship which was Japan's religion until the Meiji period...

, or "syncretism

Syncretism

Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...

 of kami and buddhas", and its opposite, shinbutsu kakuri.

Fusion of kami and buddhas

After Buddhism arrived in Japan, the Japanese developed a syncretism of local kami beliefs and foreign Buddhism called shinbutsu shūgō

Shinbutsu Shugo

, literally "syncretism of kami and buddhas" is the syncretism of Buddhism and kami worship which was Japan's religion until the Meiji period...

. When Buddhism was introduced through China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 in the late Asuka period

Asuka period

The , was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 , although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period...

 (6th century), rather than discard the old belief system the Japanese tried to reconcile it with the new, assuming both were true. As a consequence, Buddhist temples were attached to local Shinto shrines and vice versa; both were devoted to both kami and Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

. The depth of the resulting influence of Buddhism on the local religion can be seen for example in the fact that the type of shrine we see today, with a large worship hall and images, is itself of Buddhist origin. The influential theory, common in Japan until 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 :...

, even states that Buddhist gods choose to appear to the Japanese as native kami in order to save them.

Resistance to shinbutsu shūgō

While in popular practice kami and buddhas were both mixed and combined in a "common religion", they were at the same time isolated and separated in various ways elsewhere. The two religions never fused completely and, while overlapping here and there, kept their particular identity inside a difficult, largely unsystematized and tense relationship. This relationship was, rather than between two systems, between particular kami and particular buddhas. The two were always perceived as parallel but separate entities. Besides shinbutsu shugo there was always the other side of the coin, the shinbutsu kakuri. For example, at Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū some rites were kami rites, other were Buddhist, and were therefore conducted by different people. There was in the Japanese a strong resistance to the complete assimilation of their kami with foreign gods.

This visible resistance to Buddhism can be traced all the way back to the Nihon shoki

Nihon Shoki

The , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical...

's sixth century account of the first introduction of Buddhism to Japan. Later history is dotted with accounts of friction between some kami and Buddhist temples that lie in their territories.

At Ise Jungū

Ise Shrine

is a Shinto shrine dedicated to goddess Amaterasu-ōmikami, located in the city of Ise in Mie prefecture, Japan. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is in fact a shrine complex composed of a large number of Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and ....

, for example, the shrine-temple was moved twice because of the incessant rain caused by the kami angered by its excessive proximity to the shrines. A 804 book, the , stipulates that on Ise lands some Buddhist words (buddha, sūtra

Sutra

Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...

, gojūnotō

Pagoda

A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...

, monk, temple or vegetarian food) cannot be uttered and must be replaced with others. The book even specifies these replacement words to be used instead of proscribed ones: nakago ("middle child") for a buddha, kawarabuki ("tile-roofed building" for "temple," and somegami ("stained paper") for sūtra.

There was therefore a conscious desire to keep the kami away from Buddhism. Toward the end of the ninth century the practice spread to other shrines. The Jōgan shiki (871) prohibits all Buddhist rites at court offices and at all province offices during the imperial enthronement period, or . Also, monks and nuns couldn't enter the imperial palace during the abstinence before, during and after some kami rituals at court. The Engi shiki says that, in some periods of the year, monks and nuns may not enter the imperial palace. In the Heian period this kind of separation became a common practice with many well-attested practical consequences. This taboo was rigorously observed at the imperial palace for centuries. It not only lasted, but gained new force during the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 under the Tokugawa

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

. It is important to note that Buddhism was proscribed only insofar as the emperor was concerned and during the periods prescribed by the rites, but otherwise the usual mixing of kami and buddhas would take place.

Origins of the shinbutsu kakuri

The precise origin of the phenomenon does not appear to be related to the Buddhist special relationship with death. Direct contact with death was forbidden in temples too, and Buddhism was not outlawed at most shrines. Shinbutsu kakuri originated within rituals and shrines like Ise Jingū with deep ties which had profound ties with the emperor, and always remained strictly tied to him and to the ceremony of his enthronement. It later spread to other official ceremonies. It has been argued that it was a reaction against Buddhist political interference that peaked with the Dōkyō

Dokyo

was a Nara Period Japanese monk of the Dharma character school. As he was born in the family of Yuge, in the lineage of the Mononobe clan, Dōkyō was also known as . He was the brother of Yuge no Kiyoto.-Background:...

 incident of 768 in which empress Shotoku

Empress Koken

, also known as , was the 46th and the 48th emperor of Japan respectively, according to the traditional order of succession. Empress Kōken first reigned from 749 to 758, then she reascended the throne as Empress Shōtoku from 765 until her death in 770....

 wanted to give the throne to monk Dōkyō. It seems therefore that imperial ritual was isolated from Buddhism to protect the principle of hereditary imperial rule.

The practice had in any case important consequences, among them the prevention of the complete assimilation of kami practices into Buddhism. Also, the prohibition of Buddhism at the Ise and Kamo Shrine

Kamo Shrine

is a general term for an important Shinto sanctuary complex on both banks of the Kamo River in northeast Kyoto. It is centered on two shrines. The two shrines, an upper and a lower, lie in a corner of the old capital which was known as the due to traditional geomancy beliefs that the north-east...

s allowed them to freely develop their theories about the nature of kami.