User:Owlsmcgee/State Shinto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
State Shinto is a term coined by the United States in 1945 to describe the use of Shinto as an ideological tool. The definition was used to identify and remove aspects of nationalistic ideology, such as worship of the Emperor, from Japan's native traditional spiritual practice of Shinto. Generally, scholars agree the term can be used to describe the state's attempts to regulate Shinto to this end, though there is disagreement as to the extent to which the government was successful. As a result of this debate, controversy remains around the role of certain Shinto symbols, such as the Emperor and Yasukuni shrine, when used in state functions.