Issue 279 of the Journal of Shintō Studies has a report on a presentation by Yamanaka Terushige entitled “About the Pre-War and Post-War Shinto Priesthood System: The Transformation of the Rank of Gon-negi”.
Readers of this blog may know that, in contemporary Jinja Shinto, there are three ranks of priest at most jinja: Gūji (宮司 Chief Priest), Negi (禰宜 Senior Priest) and Gon-negi (権禰宜 Junior Priest). Large jinja may also have a Gon-gūji (権宮司 Deputy Chief Priest). Gon-negi is probably the most common rank, because a jinja is only allowed one each of the others.
This aspect comes from the original meaning of the “gon” prefix, which was “supernumerary”, and used for someone appointed to a rank when all the positions allowed for by the regulations were already filled. It was not originally subordinate, but over time it seems to have started carrying that sense. (So, in a throuple, you might have boy, girl, and gon-girl.)
However, these titles are all post-war in their current usage, and Yamanaka looks at the history of the terms. Until 1945, priests had been called “shashō” (社掌) and “shashi” (社司) at most jinja, with shashi being the chief priests at important jinja for much of that time. In 1943, the rank of shashi was extended to almost all jinja, meaning that almost all chief priests had that title. At this point, the title “gon-negi” was only used at Isë Jingū, and indicated a high-ranking priest there.
Immediately after the war, when the newly formed Jinja Honchō was sorting out what to call priests, they seem to have introduced “gūji” to replace “shashi” and “negi” to replace “shashō”. (Yamanaka does not report finding any records of the process by which this decision was made.) However, about a year later (in March 1947), Jinja Honchō is suddenly issuing regulations in which “gon-negi” has joined the other two titles, as a title for the lowest rank of priests. Yamanaka describes this as happening “all of a sudden”, which I take to mean that he has found no trace of discussion or explanation.
His hypothesis is that this was done to encourage priests in the chaos of the immediate post-war period, when the close association between jinja and the wartime government was causing problems. That is, they were given a much better title than they had previously borne, as a sign that their work was valued. However, the report suggests that Yamanaka feels that it may not have had much effect in this way, precisely because it seemed to come out of nowhere.
The naming of Shinto priests has not been consistent over time, and this is only the latest example. “Kannushi” (神主), which goes back to the earliest documents, is only used informally now, while “hafuri/hōri” (祝) has disappeared altogether. (Which may be for the best, as “Shinto priests are hōri” sounds as though you are mocking the Japanese accent.)
Shinto has a long tradition, and that tradition has not been interrupted, but almost nothing about it is unchanging. This seems to be a general feature of all living traditions for which we have records that allow us to check, but it does sometimes feel as though Shinto is a particularly striking example.