In this article the author discusses the relationship between religion and the state under the Meiji Constitution, not by analyzing the law or symbolic events, but by examining the revival movement of the Department of Shinto (Jingikan) and related government measures. The Bureau of Shrines and Temples in the Home Ministry, which was mainly in charge of forming the government's shrine policy, pursued the policy to revise the measures adopted during the first years of the Meiji Restoration. The movement to restore the Department of Shinto concentrated on re-establishing the kind of bureau that existed formerly and on petitioning the government for better treatment of the country's shrines. The Jingikan revival movement was begun in 1890 by Sasaki Takayuki, a leading figure, and in charge of the imperial household, along with Yamada Akiyoshi, as a national integration move before the opening of the National Diet. However, the movement never got off the ground due to a lack of political punch by its leaders, to indifference on the part of the government and a negative attitude shown by the Meiji Emperor himself. Then a similar movement was begun in the Diet, which Sasaki and his friends has been so worried about. At first a petition to the emperor was made on Jingikan's behalf and later a bill was introduced in the Diet, which was passed during the ninth session. The government ignored the bill and answered frequent requests for explanation from the Diet with the phrase, "the problem is under investigation". This type of attitude drew criticism from the leaders of the Jingikan revival movement, while they placed their hope in the first Okuma Cabinet (1898) and its home minister, Itagaki Taisuke, to realize a Department of Shinto, since the han faction-led govern ments had been more negative on the issue than political party-led governments. Finally, at the time of the second Yamagata Cabinet (1898-1900), together with revisions of the unequal treaties issue, a comprehensive religious policy was planned to respond to pressure from the Diet. It was proposed that two separate Bureaus of Religion and Shrines were to set up with separate legal structures for each. However, the government's plan to treat Sect Shinto, Buddhism and Christianity equally met with strong opposition from the Buddhist community and was voted down in the Diet. As a result, only a system of legally separate bureaus for religion and shrines was accepted. Criticism again was raised against the government's passive attitude in shrine policy. The author concludes from this state of affairs that 1)the concept of separating shrines from religion can not be tied to the formation of a state religion or compulsory shrine worship, and 2)that important revisions are required in the conventional image of "state Shinto" which suggests the government giving favorable treatment to shrines. When attempting to analyze the complex relationship between the state and religion under the Meiji Constitution, where few attempts were made to define "state religion", the conventional terminology is not up to the task.

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This research note tries to account for the formality of forwarding documents in eighth century Japan by interpreting items in Keikai-cho (計会帳). It is clear that there are some points which have been misunderstood. In the Izumo-no-kuni Keikai-cho (出雲国計会帳), there are many items of Yucho (遊牒) and Hensho (返抄) which one provincial governor would send to his next one to forward something. The forwarding course in the San'in-do (山陰道) region is made clear through interpreting these items. In principle, the forwarding procedure required one Yucho and one Hensho. Provincial governors drew them up to confirm their intentions with each other. In those days, if the central government gave the same orders to every province, documents of the Fu (符) form were forwarded to each Do (道) region. This forwarding procedure was preserved in the communications system between governors. We can discover the procedure for forwarding documents within a province by examing the Ise-no-kuni Keikai-cho (伊勢国計会帳). For example, a member of the country magistrates would carry a document from the Ise-Daijingushi(伊勢大神宮司) to the governor of Ise province. Country magistrates were very important bases for sending documentation within a province. Meanwhile, in the case of issuing orders contained in Fu from the provincial governor, an administrative bloc system was put to use. In this system, the provincial governor issued orders to the country magistrates according to the same procedure as forwarding from the central government to the provinces. It seems that this way also influenced the specific forms of drawing up documents. This paper shows that henceforth, detailed analyses of terms and forms is indispensable to the research on Keikai-cho, in order to clarify the administrative procedures under the Ritsuryo (律令) regime during the eighth century.

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Prof. Bishko has criticized the established theory that the Mesta was established by unifying local mestas. His argument is mainly based upon the fact that the local mestas were not so numerous and old as thought before. By examining historical documents, the author of this paper has confirmed that the grounds on which Bishko's argument are based must be admitted, though some amendments are necessary. As Bishko's view is confined to historical documents, and his attention is concentrated upon the term "mesta", pastoral organization that does not appear in historical documents is thought to have not existed and pastoral organization that was not called "mesta" is not considered to be mesta. According to such a method, local mestas naturally become fewer and more recent. In many regions where people raised stock, it is natural that problems should arise among the herdsmen. They held meetings to resolve such problems. The most important issue was to determine the ownership of the stock; that is, to return animals that has mixed with a strange flock to their original owner. These animals were called "mestas" (latin mixta, p. p. of miscere, to mix), and the meetings also came to be called "mestas". By acting jointly the herdsmen can be said to have formed a kind of organization. This organization should also be called mesta. Perhaps local mestas, existed wherever the stock rasing is found. The author estimates that there were many local mestas before the Mesta was established, but does not agree with the established theory. Local mestas were under the protection of the towns and functioned in the tierra of the towns, while the Mesta was a organization that the herdsmen who stepped over town boundaries and embarked on transhumance formed under the protection of the super-regional authority, the Crown. The two organizations were different in character, so it is impossible to see the establishment of the Mesta through a fusion of local mestas.

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