A guji is the chief priest of a Shinto shrine, holding overall responsibility for its rites and administration beneath the more general kannushi (priest) title that covers the shrine priesthood as a whole, with larger shrines further ranking gon-guji (deputy chief priest) beneath the guji, a hierarchy formalised under the modern shrine administration created after the Meiji restoration.
Facts
Status
Status TodayLiving tradition, practised today 1 Current StatusAn active office at Shinto shrines today, most of them affiliated with the Association of Shinto Shrines. 1 Significance
Sacred RoleThe chief priest of a Shinto shrine, responsible for its overall management and for presiding at its major rites; historically often hereditary, the position has been open to women since 1946. 1 Origins
Origin of the NameThe title combines characters for shrine and for administer, reflecting the guji's role as the shrine's chief administrator as well as its ranking priest. 1 Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Source Shinto: A HistoryHelen Hardacre
Related To
Sources
1. Shinto: A History
Helen Hardacre, Oxford University Press, 2017on the modern Shinto priesthood and shrine administrationView the Source Encyclopedia of Shinto (Shinto Jiten)
Kokugakuin University, Kokugakuin University, 2006on the guji and shrine priestly ranksView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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