Seikyo bunri

   'Separation of Government (sei) and religion (kyo)'. A Meiji policy declaration of 1882 intended to clarify the position of religions in relation to government, in the context of debate about the nature of 'religion' in modernising Japan. It paved the way for the redefinition of Shinto as 'not a religion' (hi-shukyo). It led to the recognition of religious 'sects' of Shinto (see Kyoha Shinto).