Imperial Prayers

The Summer 2025 issue of The Imperial Family (皇室) included an article reporting a discussion between Tanaka Tsunekiyo, the president of Jinja Honchō, and Okeya Ryōyū, the head of Nenpō Shinkyō. Nenpō Shinkyō is relatively new Buddhist group, founded exactly a hundred years ago, with its headquarters in Osaka. According to the article, it has about 387,000 members, and it has just finished building its central temple. The discussion took place there, and it really looks quite spectacular.

Nenpō Shinkyō is an example of a Buddhist practice with strong Shinto elements. The centrepiece of the temple appears to be a nine-sided pagoda, with three levels. On the top level, it enshrines Amë-no-Minakanushi, who appears as a creator kami at the beginning of the Kojiki — and then never appears again. On the middle level, it enshrines the main Buddha of Nenpō Shinkyō, Amida, and on the bottom level it enshrines Amaterasu Ōmikami and all the historical Tennō. The group has strong links to the imperial family, which is probably why they were featured in The Imperial Family, but no-one within Jinja Honchō would countenance Amaterasu Ōmikami being enshrined at the bottom of a pagoda… at least not within Jinja Shinto.

Revd Tanaka talked about imperial visits to his jinja, Iwashimizu Hachimangū (石清水八幡宮), and told a story showing that the previous Tennō had a deep knowledge of the history of Imperial ritual. In outline, the Tennō made a request showing that he wanted to follow the ritual of a previous Tennō’s visit, but the jinja had to go back to the records to find out what he was talking about, because he knew more about it than they did.

The prayers offered by the Tennō came up as a major topic, and gave the piece its title. Revd Tanaka explained that the Tennō prays in 24 ceremonies at the Imperial Palace every year. At some, he offers prayers himself, but even when they are offered on his behalf, he normally attends. These events are reported in Jinja Shinpō every time, with remarkably consistent articles. The Tennō almost invariably attends, the empress rarely does, and the Crown Prince and his wife almost always do. The Shinto establishment sees these prayers as the primary role of the Tennō, and the Tennō seems to agree — to attend as often as he does, he must prioritise them when arranging his calendar.

According to Revd Tanaka, while most people visiting jinja make personal prayers (true), the Tennō does not. Instead, he prays for public issues: the peace and prosperity of the state and people. Revd Tanaka said that post-war Japan was able to recover because of these prayers, and Revd Okeya said that people’s lives were grounded in these prayers.

This is a central idea for the Shinto establishment. The Tennō prays, and he prays in his public capacity, not as a private individual, no matter what the current constitution of Japan might say. They normally follow up by saying that the Tennō’s prayers should be recognised as state events, which would require a constitutional change.

However, I have seen someone (I forget who) raise the question of whether the Tennō’s prayers should really be brought under the regulation of laws and the constitution. The suggestion was that this part of the Tennō’s role was above the law, but still a public function. I think this is an interesting point. What makes something a state action? How should the Tennō’s religious role be conceptualised? The current image is, I think, unconsciously taken over from the post-Meiji situation, which was created so that the Tennō could be used as a symbol to unite the country against Western Imperialism. Given that the Tennō is supposed to be outside politics, in the opinion of the Shinto establishment as well as orthodox legal theorists, this is probably not the best place to go for your ideal.

Alas, I think this goes on the list of topics that it would be a good idea for the Shinto community to think about seriously (along with the role of Isë Jingū, the role of rice agriculture, and the role of hereditary service), but that are generally felt to be too sensitive to even raise in a public forum.