Very little is known about the operation of
shrines in ancient Japan until the advent of the cult of shrines under imperial authority during the
Heian period, whose priests came from hereditary lines. Most shrines in Japan, however, were not included in the cult and there is almost nothing known about them. In the 8th century, imperial offerings to local shrines were distributed to provincial governors, but by the time the
Engi shiki was compiled in the 10th century, these offerings were instead going to who were selected from officially assigned , when there was one present, or from a commoner selected to become by the governor when there was no . After the '
cult and the imperial court declined over the following centuries, shrines and shrine-temple complexes struggled to maintain their lands, particularly from the 14th century onwards. Most village shrines during this period were too poor to have a dedicated priest, and so rituals were conducted by laypeople. Many of these village shrines came to be run by exclusive groups of landowners later referred to as , and the village priest was selected from the members, with the priest often also being the village headman, though it is possible that priests were selected by lottery in ancient times. While ' membership was largely limited to men, there were some cases of all-female or mixed '
, though the women usually played a lesser role in mixed '. Larger complexes sought to encourage pilgrimages to bring in funds, which in some cases led to the creation of non-clergy positions such as and , particularly in the case of
Ise Shrine.
Yoshida Shinto was established in the 15th century by
Yoshida Kanetomo who gained the power to distribute shrine licenses as a representative of the emperor. By the mid-16th century, his descendant was distributing these licenses far and wide, and having these licenses determined what ritual garb a priest could wear. The of 1665 detailed how shrine priests obtained court rank, and gave the Yoshida family control over these assignments of rank and the types of ritual garb priests wore, bringing thousands of provincial priests under Yoshida authority. The Yoshida family was opposed by the Shirakawa family in the 18th century who similarly recruited regional priests. The Yoshida and Shirakawa families lost their power with the
Meiji Restoration (1868), though they retained some control over imperial rites. The priesthood was put under the authority of the newly established Bureau of Rites and the Yoshida and Shirakawa licenses were invalidated, requiring priests to be recertified through a national examination, with some removed and replaced. Hereditary priest positions were outlawed in 1871, though many shrine family lines remained intact. The 1880s and 1890s saw the first unified priesthood when priests across Japan began an organized movement to reestablish the
Department of Divinities in order to protect their livelihood, resulting in the establishment of the which was renamed to the
National Association of Shinto Priests. Several regional organizations were also formed at this time, and priests were urged to refrain from the religious acts of preaching and proselytizing and instead remain enactors of rituals. The
Association of Shinto Shrines was established in 1946 after the dismantling of the
State Shinto system during the
American occupation following World War II which removed all government support of shrines. While the Association's primary agenda is to rebuild the public function of Shinto rituals, individual priests are free to operate as they wish. A 2024 survey on religious organizations by the
Agency for Cultural Affairs found there are approximately 65,000 priests in Shinto-related religions across Japan, though the definition of priest was left open for the answering organization to determine. In the same year, the Association of Shinto Shrines reported having approximately 21,000 registered priests. == Description ==