Shinbutsu Kakuri: The Phenomenon of Isolation between Gods and Buddhas in the Early Stages of Buddhist Dissemination in Japan

Abstract

After Buddhism was introduced in the late Kofun period, it rapidly spread with the support of government during the Asuka and Nara periods, resulting in the emergence of the “Shinbutsu-shūgō”, which is a sign of the gradual mixing of local Shintoism and foreign Buddhism into one belief system. this stage is also known as the “Shinbutsukonkō”. However, in the early stages of the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism, local Shintoism still consciously separated the two religions in an attempt to maintain the local status of Shintoism. This phenomenon is known as “Shinbutsu kakuri” and is sometimes overlooked by some researchers. This paper comprehensively analyzes the phenomenon of separation of Buddhism and Shintoism based on existing research materials and clarifies the reasons and context for the resistance to the spread of Buddhism in early Japanese history, especially during the Heian period. Finally, this paper argues that the separation of Shintoism and Buddhism, as a manifestation of anti-Buddhist ideology, although could not be fully achieved due to the increasingly close relationship between Shintoism and Buddhism, provided the soil for the Meiji government’s policy of separation of Shinto from Buddhism and nationalizing Shintoism in the Meiji Restoration.