What was shinbutsu bunri?

The 1868 government policy separating Shinto from Buddhism, ending a millennium of fused worship. Shrine-temples were split apart, Buddhist objects were removed from shrines, and clergy had to choose one role.

What was haibutsu kishaku?

The anti-Buddhist movement that followed the separation edicts. In some domains temples were closed by the thousand and statues, sutras, and bells destroyed, though the intensity varied greatly by region.

How does the Meiji era affect what I see at shrines and temples?

Almost everywhere: paired shrines and temples that were once one precinct, shrine grounds stripped of pagodas, and rebuilt or relocated images all date from the Meiji separation and its aftermath.

Meiji era

Historical periods

明治時代・ Reading: Meiji jidai

Definition

The era from 1868 to 1912 when Japan modernized at breakneck speed after the fall of the shogunate. The government ordered Shinto and Buddhism separated, a policy called shinbutsu bunri that reshaped nearly every shrine and temple in the country.

Separating kami and buddhas

Within weeks of taking power in 1868, the new Meiji government ordered the separation of Shinto and Buddhism. For over a thousand years the two had been intertwined: temples stood inside shrine precincts, kami were honored as manifestations of buddhas, and the same priests often served both. The shinbutsu bunri edicts dissolved this fusion, and in many regions they unleashed haibutsu kishaku, a wave of temple closures and destruction of Buddhist statues and bells. Shinto was reorganized under state administration, with shrines ranked and priests made officials.

What visitors see today

The Meiji settlement explains oddities you will notice everywhere: a shrine and a temple standing side by side that were once a single precinct, pagodas missing from shrine grounds that clearly had them, and Buddhist images hidden away for decades now back on display. Buddhism recovered and reorganized in the later Meiji years, while newly built shrines honored the imperial institution. When the era ended, Meiji Jingū in Tokyo was founded to enshrine the emperor himself.

Common questions

What was shinbutsu bunri?: The 1868 government policy separating Shinto from Buddhism, ending a millennium of fused worship. Shrine-temples were split apart, Buddhist objects were removed from shrines, and clergy had to choose one role.
What was haibutsu kishaku?: The anti-Buddhist movement that followed the separation edicts. In some domains temples were closed by the thousand and statues, sutras, and bells destroyed, though the intensity varied greatly by region.
How does the Meiji era affect what I see at shrines and temples?: Almost everywhere: paired shrines and temples that were once one precinct, shrine grounds stripped of pagodas, and rebuilt or relocated images all date from the Meiji separation and its aftermath.