Practical Priesthood Program

The back pages of the June 22^nd and July 6^th issues of Jinja Shinpō were all about a particular training program for priests at Kokugakuin University (國學院大學), the Shinto university in Tokyo. The first article described the program, which has just changed in its details, and the second article interviewed four students who started on the new version of the program this April.

This program is a way to take the standard four-year degree, potentially qualifying for meikai (明階), the highest non-honorary level of priestly licence, if you take (and pass) the right options. Meikai qualifies you to be the chief priest of any jinja, no matter how large and important, and is generally expected of priests who are taking a leadership role in the broader Shinto community. The students on it live at a jinja in Tokyo, and serve there, doing much of the work of priests, during the day. (There are things that they cannot do until licensed, but they might well be licensed at one of the lower levels before they graduate — they would have taken the necessary classes, but I do not know whether the licence is issued.) They then take courses at Kokugakuin in the evening, generally starting from 17:50, although in their final year they would probably start at 16:10 on a couple of days (there is a sample timetable in the article). They do not have to pay rent or for food, and the jinja where they are serving pays part of their university fees. They are also excused from taking the practical experience courses, because they are serving full-time at a jinja. The program formally only applies to the first year, but it seems that students almost always continue at the same jinja for the full four years.

This program has existed in some form since just after WWII, when it was introduced because there was a serious shortage of accommodation in Tokyo for trainee priests from elsewhere in Japan, and many priests were in financially straitened circumstances. Originally, it seems that it was aimed at the children of priestly families, but it now takes students from any background — although if you did not grow up in a jinja I imagine there would be some serious culture shock to overcome. Until this academic year it was a separate program within the university, with classes only in the evening. However, changes introduced from this academic year mean that it is no longer a formally separate program from the standard degree. The students on this program are taking the same degree as everyone else, but they can complete all the requirements by choosing courses offered in the evening. In theory, other students can presumably choose these time slots as well, but there is a photograph in the second article that suggests they do not — which is hardly surprising. On the other hand, one of the students interviewed mentions that he is taking a class that starts at 16:10, and a remote class, where he has to watch a video lecture by a certain time each week, rather than at a certain time. That would not, I think, have been possible under the old system.

It looks to me as though this program would be extremely hard work — serve at a jinja all day, and then three hours of classes up to 21:00. And I am sure there is homework as well. On the other hand, someone who completed it would have exceptionally strong theoretical and practical knowledge of Shinto for a new priest. In fact, three of the students interviewed mention the desire for a thorough education with a stronger practical aspect as one of their main reasons for choosing this option. The fourth is the daughter of a full-time priest in a rural area of Japan, and did not want to burden her parents with the full cost of university fees. This is likely to be representative of the reasons people have for choosing this program, as the interviewees were almost certainly chosen for that purpose. (Two men, two women; two from priestly families, two not; all at different jinja scattered across Tokyo — I do not think this is random.) The inclusion of two women is probably a way to signal that the host jinja do have the ability to host women — that was something I wondered about after reading the first article.

The articles appear to serve two purposes. The first is to reassure people that this program is still running despite the curriculum changes, which suggests that the university has heard concerns. The second is presumably to raise awareness of it. All active priests get Jinja Shinpō, and something covering the back page is likely to be noticed.

This may be part of the push to recruit more people to train as priests, to address the shortage. This course lowers the financial hurdle, and also provides a way for someone who is not from a priestly family to get the experience they need to lead a jinja. I hope it helps.