Shrine Parishioner Registration

The Regulations for Shrine Parishioner Registration were rules made by the Council of State (Dajōkan) in Japan. They were in place for two years from 1871 to 1873. The rules required everyone to register at shinto shrines. This was similar to an earlier system called the Danka system which did the same for Buddhist temples.

The official name of the law is Daijō-kan Proclamation No. 322 "Investigation of parishioners at large and small shrines" (太政官布告第三二二号「大小神社氏子取調」, Daijōkanfukoku dai san ni ni-gō `daishō jinja ujiko torishirabe') .

Overview

The law had seven parts. The first part said that when a baby was born, the parents had to tell the village head. Then, they had to take the baby to the local shrine to get a special amulet. This amulet had to stay with the baby. If someone did not have this amulet, they had to tell the village head their name, birthdate, where they were born, and their father's name. The village head would then get an amulet for them. The village head would check the amulets every six years when they did a registration exercise. If someone died, their amulet had to go back to the shrine priest.

Another set of rules was made at the same time called Regulations for Rural District Shrines. This set of rules said that each district had to have one rural district shrine responsible for overseeing registration. These rules were supposed to register all newborn babies. Some people think that these rules were also supposed to make shrines like temples from earlier times in Japan. These rules only lasted for two years, but the rules for district shrines lasted until after World War II. The Shrine Consolidation Policy merged shrines together for this purpose.

Other pages

• Shrine Consolidation Policy