IOverview
The schools on this page are not religious organisations. They are interpretations of Shinto developed by priests, monks and scholars between the 13th and 19th centuries, each tied to a lineage, a centre and a set of texts. Today they are mainly subjects of study.
Their common thread is the relationship between the kami and the Buddha, and between the kami and Confucian teaching. Early schools placed the kami under the Buddha, later ones reversed the order, and later still scholars sought to strip away both Buddhism and Confucianism to recover an ancient Shinto. It should be said at once that most ordinary people of the time paid little attention to these systems. They matter because they shaped how priests and rulers understood Shinto, and in the end influenced Meiji religious policy.
IISchools Tied to Buddhism
Ryōbu Shintō 両部神道 arose within Shingon esoteric Buddhism from around the Kamakura period. It linked the Inner Shrine of Ise with Dainichi of the Womb Realm and the Outer Shrine with Dainichi of the Diamond Realm, reading Ise through the two esoteric mandalas. Its basis was the honji suijaku theory, which held the kami to be local manifestations of buddhas and bodhisattvas. Sannō Shintō 山王神道 was a parallel approach in the Tendai school, centred on the kami Sannō of the Hie shrine at the foot of Mount Hiei.
IIISchools That Put Shinto First
Ise Shintō 伊勢神道, also called Watarai Shintō, was transmitted by the Watarai priestly lineage of Ise's Outer Shrine and took shape around the 13th and 14th centuries with a group of five texts known as the Shintō gobusho. It raised the standing of the Outer Shrine's kami, stressed purity and uprightness, and was among the first to put the kami ahead of the Buddha.
Yoshida Shintō 吉田神道 was founded by Yoshida Kanetomo (1435 to 1511), who called it Yuiitsu Shintō, the one and only Shinto. Kanetomo held that Shinto is the root, Confucianism the branches and leaves, and Buddhism the flowers and fruit. In 1484 he built the Taigenkyū hall at the Yoshida shrine in Kyoto. This school had the greatest practical influence: from 1665 a shogunate law gave the Yoshida house authority to license and rank most shrine priests in the country, a power it held until the end of the Edo period.
Misconception: these schools were denominations with their own followers, like Buddhist schools. In fact: they were lines of theory and ritual transmission among priests and scholars. Ordinary shrine visitors did not choose a school.
IVConfucian-Inflected Schools
In the Edo period Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism became the orthodox learning, and many Confucian scholars sought to join it with Shinto. Yoshikawa Shintō 吉川神道, founded by Yoshikawa Koretaru (1616 to 1694), who came out of the Yoshida line, read Shinto through Confucian ethics. Suika Shintō 垂加神道, founded by Yamazaki Ansai (1619 to 1682), went further, combining Zhu Xi learning with Japanese myth and stressing reverence and devotion to the throne. It drew many followers among samurai and courtiers and fed into later imperial loyalist thought.
VRestoration Shinto
Fukko Shintō 復古神道, Restoration Shinto, grew out of the National Learning movement. Scholars such as Kada no Azumamaro, Kamo no Mabuchi and then Motoori Norinaga (1730 to 1801) argued for reading ancient texts like the Kojiki directly to recover Japanese ways of thinking from before Buddhism and Confucianism arrived. Norinaga completed his commentary, the Kojiki-den, in 1798 after more than thirty years. Hirata Atsutane (1776 to 1843) pushed the school towards theology, with much attention to the afterlife.
Hirata's disciples were prominent among late Edo imperial loyalists and in the early Meiji religious bureaucracy. For that reason the school is often cited as an intellectual source of the 1868 separation of kami and buddhas.
- 13th to 14th c.Ryōbu and Ise ShintōOne reads the kami through esoteric Buddhism, the other elevates them.
- 1484Taigenkyū hallBuilt by Yoshida Kanetomo at the Yoshida shrine, Kyoto.
- 1665Yoshida licensing authorityThe shogunate grants the Yoshida house authority over most shrine priests.
- 17th c.Suika and Yoshikawa ShintōShinto blended with Zhu Xi learning.
- 1798Kojiki-den completedMotoori Norinaga's commentary on the Kojiki.
- 1868Separation of kami and buddhasA policy Restoration Shinto helped to shape.
VIIn Vietnam
This section does not apply: these schools are strands of Japanese intellectual history with no organisation or followers in Vietnam. Vietnamese readers may see a parallel debate in their own intellectual history around the idea that the three teachings share one source, which also asked how Buddhism, Confucianism and native belief relate, though it answered differently.
VIISymbol of the Branch
No symbol of its own is recorded with a source for this branch, so the library uses the common symbol of the path.
VIIISub-branches
- Ryōbu Shintō 両部神道
- Ise Shintō (Watarai Shintō) 伊勢神道
- Yoshida Shintō 吉田神道
- Suika Shintō 垂加神道
- Yoshikawa Shintō 吉川神道
- Fukko Shintō 復古神道
IXOther Branches of Shinto
Shrine Shinto神社神道 Jinja ShintōThe largest form, centred on the nationwide network of shrines.
Folk Shinto民俗神道 Minzoku ShintōCustomary Shinto practised by ordinary people without systematisation: household altars, kami of the kitchen and well, village customs, seasonal and life-cycle rites.Sect Shinto教派神道 Kyōha Shintō (called 宗派神道 Shūha Shintō by the Association of Shinto Shrines)Organised groups with founders, doctrines and members, mostly formed in the 19th century.Uses the common symbol of the path
Izumo Ōyashirokyō出雲大社教 Izumo ŌyashirokyōFounded in 1882 by Senge Takatomi, 80th chief priest of Izumo Taisha.Konkōkyō金光教 KonkōkyōFounded in 1859 by Konkō Daijin, headquartered in Asakuchi, Okayama.Uses the common symbol of the pathKurozumikyō黒住教 KurozumikyōFounded by Kurozumi Munetada, dated to 1814, headquartered at Shintōzan in Okayama.Uses the common symbol of the path
Ōmoto大本 ŌmotoBegan with Deguchi Nao in 1892 in Ayabe, Kyoto.
Imperial Household Shinto皇室神道 Kōshitsu ShintōRites performed by the Emperor within the palace for the nation, the people and world peace, centred on Amaterasu.Historical Shinto schools両部神道, 吉田神道, 伊勢神道, 垂加神道, 復古神道Interpretive schools from the medieval to early modern period, including Ryōbu, Ise, Yoshida, Suika and Fukko Shinto.Uses the common symbol of the pathXSources
The library cross-checks the sources below. Where they disagree, the page gives both.
?Quick Questions
What is Yoshida Shintō?
It is the school founded by Yoshida Kanetomo (1435 to 1511), which held Shinto to be the root, with Confucianism and Buddhism as branches and fruit. From 1665 the shogunate gave the Yoshida house authority to license most shrine priests, a power kept until the end of the Edo period.
How did Restoration Shinto differ from earlier schools?
Restoration Shinto sought to set aside both Buddhism and Confucianism and read ancient texts like the Kojiki directly to recover pre-foreign thought. Earlier schools either read the kami through Buddhism or blended Confucianism into Shinto.
Does anyone still follow these schools?
There are no separate organisations. They are mainly subjects of study, though some shrines keep rites and buildings from the old lineages, such as the Taigenkyū hall at the Yoshida shrine.