Non-mainstream Shinto sects
 refers to several independent, organized Shinto groups that were excluded by Japanese law in 1882 from government-run State Shinto. Compared to mainstream Shrine Shinto, which focuses primarily on rituals, these independent groups have a more developed theology. Many such groups are organized under the . Before World War II, Sect Shinto consisted of 13 denominations, which were referred to as the 13 Shinto schools. Since then, there have been additions to and withdrawals from membership.
Whereas Shrine Shinto is an aggregation of various shrines and customary beliefs in various parts of Japan (which became united under the Ise Grand Shrine after the Meiji period), Sect Shinto is based on the (lit. 'national study') school of philosophy. Tenrikyo was categorized as Sect Shinto but is often considered a separate monotheistic religion.
History.
While it has roots in the late Edo period, Sect Shinto became more firmly established in the Meiji era after the Meiji Restoration. Its formation was stimulated by the religious policies of the Meiji government, and it emerged at a time when there was increasing theological discussion among people of a wider range of classes, rather than only between intellectuals.
In 1868, the religious administration of the new Meiji government issued the Shinto-Buddhist Separation Order, resulting in the and the restoration of the unity of ritual and government system. Following the Taikyo Proclamation, which designated Shinto as the state religion, the Great Teaching Institute was established, though it was soon reformed into the Bureau of Shinto Affairs and later the sect Shinto Taikyo.
During these early trial-and-error religious policies, the Meiji government promoted a nationalized system of Shinto education by religious instructors known as . However, with the spread of the ideas of separation of church and state and freedom of religion, the ended. This produced a division in Shinto between shrines for state-run public rituals and religious groups centered on edification. Groups that met certain conditions (such as the number of followers) were officially recognized as "independent denominations." This was the beginning of the denominational Sect Shinto.
This separation strengthened the idea that it was necessary to establish an institution that was a more developed version of the former Shodo Shido Practice Center. Accordingly, the Meiji government established the Office of Japanese Classics Research in Tokyo Prefecture, independent of the Bureau of Shinto Affairs, in order to organize the exploration of ideas unique to Japan. It was later succeeded by Kokugakuin University.
Establishment.
Formation of a united government.
The impetus for denominational Shinto was the separation of Shinto and Buddhism, which began in 1868 (first year of Meiji) with the revival of the Department of Divinities and the separation of Shinto and Buddhism, which started with the Shinto-Buddhist Hanzen Order, a premodern imperial government directive. This led to the formation of the unity of ritual and government, and a Shinto government was revived. Around then, official decrees abolished the hereditary system of Shinto priests, thus ending the jurisdiction of the Shirakawa and Yoshida families over Shinto.The rituals of the Shinto shrines are the religious services of the state, and it is, of course, true that they are not the private property of one person or one family. This is a common practice in the country, and priests are considered to be a separate species from the people. — Meiji 4th Year Taishogun's Bulletin No. 234During this transition, the concept of missionaries to propagate Shinto remained. In 1870 (Meiji 3), the imperial Taikyo Proclamation designated Shinto as the state religion. The Great Teaching Institute was established in 1872 (Meiji 5) as a missionary organization, but was dissolved in 1875 (Meiji 8). It was succeeded by the Bureau of Shinto Affairs in the same year, to which the originally disparate folk belief religions belonged.
Ministry of Religion, , and the Taikyo Institute.
In 1872, the Missionary Office was abolished and replaced with the Ministry of Religion. In April, Shinto priests and monks were assigned positions, of which there were 14 ranks. The Ministry was later dissolved in 1877, and was abolished in 1884.
The priesthood was initially divided in two geographically in two, with the eastern division headed by Konoe Tadafusa, priest of Ise Grand Shrine, and the western division headed by Senge Takatomi, the grand priest of Izumo Taisha Shrine. Since it was assumed that one's religious affiliation was free, there was a struggle for power between the Ise and Izumo factions. On January 30, 1873, the two-part system was abolished and the two regions were combined. However, they were once again divided later becoming a three-part system with Senge Takatomi, Koga Takemichi, and Inaba Masakuni, and then a four-part system with the addition of Tanaka Yoriyasu, the grand priest of the Ise Grand Shrine. On that same day, the Kurozumikyō and Shinto Shusei were specially established as denominational Shinto sects, and the compartment system was abolished.
In May 1873, the Ministry of Religion issued a religious ordinance, which set standards for the approval of (religious lectures or meetings). In August, the Ministry approved the Kurozumikyō, the Tohokami (later Misogi-Kyo), the Mitake, and the Fuji Isan (later Fuso-kyo), as well as Buddhist .
In 1873, the Great Teaching Institute was established—first in Kojimachi, Kioicho and later in Masukami, Shiba at Zōjō-ji—as the head temple for of a joint Shinto and Buddhist sect. The Taikyo Institute was initiated by the Buddhist side to concretize teaching by the Ministry of Religion, but it later became focused entirely on Shinto. The Buddhist side, led by Shinshū, broke away from the institute. On April 30, 1875, the Taikyo Institute was dissolved by order of the Ministry of Religion.
Bureau of Shinto Affairs.
The Bureau of Shinto Affairs was formed in March 1875, just prior to the dissolution of the Taikyo Institute, by a group of Shinto shrines, at Ise Grand Shrine and other shrines throughout Japan, as well as by Shinto priests and instructors belonging to private Shinto-related . The Shinto side felt that there was no organization that corresponded to the various Buddhist sects, and on March 27, 1875 (Meiji 8), Grand High Priest Suechi Sanjonishi, Grand Priest-in-Charge Inaba Masakuni, Yoriyasu Tanaka, Hirayama Seisai, and Konosetsu Tsume jointly petitioned the Ministry of Religion for the establishment of a government office for Shinto.
The next day, on March 28, 1875, he received permission to establish the Bureau of Shinto Affairs. On April 8, he requested that the Ministry of Religion establish the Bureau of Shinto Affairs. The content of the request was that even small shrines, centering on the Imperial Shrine at Ise, should be able to cooperate with each other for the purpose of propagating Shinto. On April 15, the Bureau of Shinto Affairs was opened in the Tokyo Branch Office of the Jingu Shichosha. Once the Bureau of Shinto Affairs was prepared—bringing together the traditionally existing shrines, Shinto , and congregations following folk beliefs—various denominations that met certain conditions were able to branch out and become independent from it. 
The following year, in 1876 (Meiji 9), a dormitory was established in the Shinto Office to train priests. Also that year, the Kurozumikyō and Shinto Shusei, which had been flourishing, became independent denominations.
Inaba Masakuni was the first president of the Bureau of Shinto Affairs. Yoriyasu Tanaka was the Chief of Ise Jingu and the first head of Jingūkyō. Hirayama Seisai was the grand priest of Hikawa Shrine and the first headmaster of Shinto Taiseikyo and Ontake-kyo. Kousetsu Tsume would become the second head minister of the Ontake Sect.
In 1886, the Bureau of Shinto Affairs was reorganized, later becoming the sect Shinto Taikyo.
Controversy over shrine deities.
The Bureau of Shinto Affairs had a plan to make Jingu Haruhaiden (later becoming Tokyo Daijingu) the central temple and a center for missionary work. Since Jingu Haruhaiden was to enshrine a branch spirit of Amaterasu, not only the Ministry of Religion but also the Emperor visited the building and obtained permission from the Seiin to begin construction, which was funded by donations from the Imperial Household Agency and various families.
In 1880, the opinion of Senge Takatomi on the deities to be worshipped in the Bureau of Shinto Affairs' temples was so controversial that it divided Shinto into the Ise and Izumo factions. By order of the Meiji Emperor, a great conference on Shinto was held in January 1881 (Meiji 14), attended by 118 people, including all the chief priests of the government buildings and the instructors of the sixth grade and above. However, the issue could not be settled. Thus, it was settled in February by the imperial decision of the Meiji Emperor.
Separation of ritual and faith.
In January 1882, the separation of ritual and religion was enacted by the Ministry of Home Affairs through Bill No. 7, which prohibited those in the (priest-teacher position) from performing rituals, thereby promoting the separation of those who continued to be priests performing rituals or preaching the teachings, and solidifying the formation of Sect Shinto.Priests shall no longer serve as teachers and shall not be involved in funeral services. — January 24, Meiji 15, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications No. 7After this, on May 15, 1882, the six factions (including Jingūkyō) became independent. Jingu Haruhayashiden (the source of the ritual god controversy) was transferred to Jingūkyō's ownership and renamed Daijingu Shrine, and Jingū Taima were distributed by Jingūkyō. Senge Takatomi took the opportunity to resign from his position as priest of Izumo Taisha Shrine and handed it over to his younger brother, who became the head of the Izumo Taisha Sect.
On August 11, 1884, the government issued a proclamation abolishing the position. In turn, this meant the Bureau of Shinto Affairs had lost its original reason for opening, and so in 1886, the Bureau reorganized; it later became Shinto Taikyo, one of the schools of Shinto.
Office of Japanese Classics Research.
On November 4, 1881, the Office of Japanese Classics Research was established as a successor to the Bureau of Shinto Affairs. Like its predecessor, it was a unified Shinto missionary organization established to train Shinto priests. Funded by an imperial gift, it purchased a mansion in Iidacho, Kojimachi-ku (present-day Chiyoda-ku).
Immediately after the Great Council of Shinto, it was decided to establish the Office upon the proposal of Akiyoshi Yamada of Lord of Home Affairs. Prince Arisugawa Takahito was appointed as its first president, and announced his intention to pursue a unique Japanese academic discipline. In the "Announcement of the Establishment of the Imperial Academy" (jointly signed by Li-Kuro Kubo, Yorikuni Inoue, Nakasaburo Itsumi, and Hans Shishino), the intention of the establishment of the academy was to train personnel to maintain (national identity). The Imperial Institute established branches in the provinces and qualified students for priesthood.
The Office was later succeeded by Kokugakuin University.
Academics.
In December 1868 (the first year of Meiji), the Imperial Academy was established in Kyoto but was abolished the following year. When the Ministry of Religion was established in 1872, it was responsible for research.
In 1882 (Meiji 15), institutes of imperial studies were established one after another. This was due to a keen awareness of the need for doctrinal studies in the rites and rituals controversy. The controversy was divided between the doctrinalists (denominational Shinto sects) and the national scholars (academics). As the doctrinalists became independent, the national scholars were stimulated and the separation of doctrine and learning progressed. On April 30, Jingūkyō established Kōgakkan University in Ise. On May 30, the Department of Classics was established at the University of Tokyo.
After World War II.
On December 15, 1945, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ) issued the Shinto Directive aimed at dismantling State Shinto. In January of the following year, the Dai Nihon Shinto-kai, the Imperial Academy, and the Jingu Bonan-kai were dissolved to form the Association of Shinto Shrines, a religious corporation. In March, Jingu-Shogakukan University was abolished by the Shinto directive; in April, representatives of each denomination explained their denomination to the GHQ Civilian Information and Education Department at Broadcasting Hall 108. In June, at a meeting at Tenrikyo's Honshiba Grand Church between the presidents of the various schools and W. K. Vance, head of the Religious Affairs Division at GHQ, the occupying forces promised not to impose any restrictions on the religious activities of the Shinto sects.
Tenrikyo established a policy of restoration immediately in 1945, and Konkokyo established the Council for the Establishment of the Faith in 1951 to eliminate Shinto colors.
The system in which there were 13 Shinto sects