{{Short description|Ritual enshrinement of a Kami}} {{for|the Buddhist ritual (灌頂)| Abhiseka}} thumb|right|''Kanjō'' ritual crown, Kamakura-Edo period (13th-17th century)
{{nihongo|2=勧請|3='''Kanjō'''}} in Shinto terminology indicates a propagation process through which a ''kami'', previously divided through a process called ''bunrei'', is invited to another location and there re-enshrined.<ref name="Smyers147"/>
== Evolution of the ''kanjō'' process == ''Kanjō'' was originally a Buddhist term and later entered Shinto vocabulary.<ref name="Smyers147">Smyers (1999:235)</ref> A ''kanjō'' was the request of the Buddha's sermon with a sincere heart, and later came to mean the urging of a buddha or bodhisattva to remain in this world to preach and save other human beings.<ref name="Smyers147"/> The concept then evolved further to mean the act (and the actual words) of asking buddhas or bodhisattvas to descend to the altar during a Buddhist service.<ref name="Smyers147"/> In Japan, the word gradually assumed the present meaning of enshrinement of a buddha or ''kami'' in a building for the first time.<ref name="Smyers147"/>
==The ''kanjō'' process == Before it can be transferred to its new location the ''kami'' must be divided.{{fact|date=August 2018}} The division sub-process and the divided spirit itself are called {{nihongo|''bunrei''|分霊}}, {{nihongo|''go-bunrei''|御分霊}} or {{nihongo|''wakemitama''|分霊}}.<ref name="Smyers147"/>
The process of propagation, described by Shinto priests as akin to the lighting of a candle from another already lit, leaves the original ''kami'' intact in its original place and therefore does not alter any of its properties.<ref name="Smyers147"/> The resultant ''wakemitama'' has all the qualities of the original and is therefore both living and permanent.<ref name="Smyers147"/> The process is used often, for example during ''Matsuri'' (Shinto festivals) to animate temporary shrines called {{nihongo|''mikisho''|神酒所}} and their portable versions, called ''mikoshi''.<ref name="sonoda12">Sonoda (1975:12)</ref>
=== ''Inari kanjō'' === Inari is the ''kami'' that has been subjected to ''kanjō'' more often than any other,<ref name="Smyers156">Smyers (1999: 156-160)</ref> and is therefore a good illustration of the process.
The transfer does not necessarily take place from a shrine to another: the new location can be a privately owned object or a ''kamidana'' ("god-shelf", or altar) within an individual house. There is a recorded case of Inari being re-enshrined in a fox hole.<ref name="Smyers156"/><ref>The fox is Inari's symbol.</ref> In fact, the first recorded Inari ''kanjō'', in 842, involved the ''kami'''s transfer to Ono no Takamura's scepter.<ref name="Smyers156"/> The ''kami'' was then transported to Mutsu no Kuni (Aomori) by its owner.<ref name="Smyers156"/> Some years later, he returned to Kyoto, and Aomori's people asked him to leave the ''kami'' behind, which he did in what would become Takekoma Inari.<ref name="Smyers156"/>
In 1194, Emperor Go-Toba decided that only Fushimi Inari Shrine could perform any of the parts of the Inari ''kanjō'', however abuses were so rampant that the shrine started providing an authenticity certificate with each divided spirit.<ref name="Smyers156"/> The process was briefly outlawed nationwide during the Meiji Era, but was reinstated by popular demand. Nowadays, most large Inari shrines will perform it for a fee, sometimes set by the shrine or left to the discretion of the worshiper.<ref name="Smyers156"/> As of 1990, Fushimi Inari Shrine had performed it eighty thousand times for private citizens. <ref name="Smyers156"/> The faithful are often given the option to give a personal name to their personal ''kami''. At Toyokawa Inari, the worshiper can buy a statue and then participate in the ceremony, called ''kaigen'', to animate it.<ref name="Smyers156"/>
When one of Inari's forms is re-enshrined with a different name, it may also be worshiped for a specific function.<ref name="Smyers156"/> All the new functions are thereafter assumed to be specialties of the ''kami'', particularly in case of a great success in the re-enshrinement, even when those functions are very far from its original nature, as for instance fishing in Inari's case.<ref name="Smyers156"/>
==See also== * Glossary of Shinto
==References== ===Citations=== {{Reflist|2}} ===Bibliography=== * Smyers, Karen Ann. (1999). ''The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship.'' Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. {{ISBN|9780824820589}}; {{ISBN|9780824821029}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/039523475 OCLC 39523475] * Smyers, Karen Ann. [https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2588 “My own Inari”: Personalization of the deity in Inari worship], 1996. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Online Archive, retrieved on July 22, 2020 * Sonoda, Minoru. [https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2275 The Traditional Festival in Urban Society], 1975, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Online Archive, retrieved on July 22, 2020 * [http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/search.php?type=1&term=Bunrei&andor=AND Bunrei], Encyclopedia of Shinto, retrieved on July 8, 2008
== External links == {{Commons category|Kanjō}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanjo}} Category:Shinto
ja:分霊 {{Shinto shrine}}