During the Meiji era, a set of religious policies aimed at reinforcing the Imperial cult of the newly formed Empire of Japan were instituted. These are collectively referred to in Western sources as State Shinto, Kokka being the native word used to describe the system developed. The term was created post-1945 by the United States occupation of Japan, in order to abolish the system they partially blamed for the brutality and expansionism of the Japanese.
Post Pacific War, the system was formally dismantled. As aforementioned, it was a convenient source of blame for the allies, and they wanted to deprive Emperor Showa of the cult of personality and godhood that had developed since the Meiji Restoration.
The system was never "formalized" as the term is retroactive. To better understand the formation of the policies, some historical context is necessary. Since the Portuguese brought the Jesuits with them, Japan had a religion problem. Christianity spread rather quicky to a small, but dedicated, following of native peasants. Buddhism was the predominant faith of the elite, and thus a system called "danka" was reinforced, where peasants and their families were forced to associate with temples, pay tithes, and have them perform services like burials in exclusivity. To the Western audience, this should sound like a Mafia racket to some degree.
In many cases, it was a bit of a racket, with monastics extorting money from the populace, enforcing Buddhist burial customs and rituals, and "stealing" kami to try and attract laypeople. This is more than an opinion, it was a fact that would be realized when the populace rose up as part of Haibutsu, Kishaku, a movement that aimed to destroy and abolish Buddhism around the chaos of the early Meiji Restoration. Whether or not the retribution was deserved is a matter of opinion, and one that I am not certain of. Certainly, shrines that were co-opted should be returned to a pre-Buddhist form and the monks required to build their own temples or migrate elsewhere, but Buddhism remains intangibly part of Japanese history. It's the same reason one would stand up for either keeping Hagia Sofia secularized, or returning it to its cathedral form. Similarly to the Pantheon of Rome, in some respects.
With this context laid out, we can properly understand the policies. Kannushi were drafted into public service, teaching classes to schools, mandatory holiday trips by students (including in the occupied Korea which was primarily a mix of Neo-Confucian, Christian, and Buddhist. Shinto is not native to Korea and was used as a social cleansing tool.) Governments funded constructions of jinja and hokora across the rural areas, Kokugakuin and Kougakkan university graduates were to become school teachers, and many shrines were corralled around the worship of the Emperor, and associated Kami such as Amaterasu-Omikami.
These policies along with jinja such as Yasukuni existed as methods to both enforce the expansionist and militaristic nature of the Empire, as well as public propaganda outlets. It's very clear at this point that the Kokka Shinto system was nothing more than an arm of the Imperial cult, used to further worship of the Emperor and pacify the masses.
In conclusion, there's no real purpose to enshrining Kokka Shinto as a moral, legitimate or "correct" form of worship, and through rejection of and disavowal of it, it would enable those who may seek some similar, but not the same, goals, such as a less secularized or apathetic Japan or a return to traditional values can cast off the negative stigma surrounding it.
Opinion Section. Read with this in mind.
Speaking plainly, Kokka Shinto was an example of how the Meiji Restoration went far into an unjust, toxic and corrosive form that eventually led
to the ill-advised and impulsive Japan under Hideki Tojo, a man who history will revile for his cruelty and borderline fascist ideology.
There is no defense I can give of Kokka Shinto, this page is only intended to separate fact from fiction, give context and understanding.
Undoubtedly, this will upset supporters of Nippon Kaigi, and such. While I'm mildly sympathetic to monarchist and conservative inclinations, these cannot be made with the failed ideology of the past Japan. Such a social change requires not only convincing an apathetic and secularized populace that such a life can be better, but that such a life will bring answers and prosperity not only to the elites, but everyone, including minorities. A major problem I have with modern Japanese politics is the refusal to address longstanding social problems and adopt an "ostrich in the sand" policy which clearly is not doing anyone any favors.
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