ABSTRACT
Kuroda argues that even the medieval Ise or Watarai Shinto whose doctrines are often regarded as proof of Shinto being an independent religious system accepted Buddhism as 'the overarching principle that embraced and unified both,' and defined itself only relative to Buddhist teachings.2 While Ise Shinto can be called a sectarian movement, it was actually 'one component of a unique system of Buddhism that emerged in Japan'. 3 A first attempt to delineate Shinto as a system with independent doctrines can be seen in the activities of the 'Shinto-only' school (Yuiitsu or Yoshida Shinto) in the late fifteenth century. But only since the Meiji period can one speak of Shinto as an organised, independent religion that created demarcated sites, distinct theories, practices and representatives.
