Shinto priest

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Shinto priests (神職, shinshoku) are members of the clergy at a Shinto shrine (神社, jinja) responsible for maintaining the shrine and leading worship of the kami there. In Japanese, they are also commonly referred to as kannushi (神主, "divine master (of ceremonies)"). The characters for kannushi are sometimes also read as jinshu with the same meaning. Kannushi originally referred only to the highest-ranking member of the clergy at a shrine, but has since expanded to become a collective term for all members of the clergy, synonymous with shinshoku. Another office called shinkan (神官; lit. "religious official") used to exist, but the position was abolished during the removal of Shinto from government oversight during the establishment of the Japanese constitution. In March 1887, the term shinkan was replaced by shinshoku for priests at kankoku heisha (imperial and national shrines) and lower-ranking shrines, with the exception of Ise Shrine, where the older title persisted. In 1902, a new rank system was introduced at imperial and national shrines, comprising gūji, gongūji (interim head priest), negi, and kujō. Following the establishment of a new priestly department (kanbesho) at Ise Shrine in 1900, the term shinkan came to apply legally only to the daigūji, shōgūji, negi, gonnegi, and kujō of Ise Shrine, until all remaining shrine regulations, including the shinkan qualification, were abolished in February 1946."