Concerning shinto-related institutions under the Ritsuryo system represented by the custom of state-supported shrines, it has been the conventional opinion that from the late eighth century, as the Ritsuryo codes were more loosely implemented and substantial changes in local communities came about, the Shinto Bureau (jingikan 神祇官) and its authority declined. However, this way of thinking ignores the fact that the number of state-supported shrines were actually increasing from the late eighth century and fails to take into consideration the problem of the hanpei 班幣 system, under which materials for festivals (heihaku 幣帛) were allocated to the shrines. It is true, however, that l) the state shrine system of the eighth century lacked efficacy in its ideal or expressed purpose of carrying out state-supported festivals in honor of both Japan's heavenly and indigenous deities and 2) the number of state shrines were limited. However, from the middle of that century the number of state-supported shrines began to increase with the further development of local governance institutions under the Ritsuryo system, a set of conditions that forced a new kind of response by the state. First, there was a strengthening of the hanpei system by the implementation of penalties for shinto priests who failed to appear at the Bureau for the distribution of heihaku to the shrines ; however, in practice such a response was not very effective. During the Enryaku era the Bureau initiated the institution of specially designated shrines (kanpei-kokuhei-sha 官幣国幣社) and deities (myojin 名神) that were placed directly under the management of the Bureau in the Kinai region and under provincial governors (kokushi 国司) in other regions. Under this system, the control of shinto-related personnel was strengthened, and by indirect control through the agency of provincial governors a stronger and more widespread system was created. The provincial governors attempted to strengthen their control over the shrines in their territories through applications for Bureau recognition and heihaku allocations. This strategy was directly related to both the specially designated deity (myojin) and ranked deity shrine (shinkai-sha 神階社) systems. The myojin system was instituted at the about same time as the kanpei-kokuhei-sha system with the purpose of directly controlling a number of shrines that would invoke divine intercession on behalf of the state. However, in the process by which provincial governors were put in charge of local shrine administration, these shrines were also gradually given special status and ranking by governors in their attempt to strengthen their control. What soon developed therefore was the ranked deity srhine system. From the late eighth century the granting of status and ranking to shrines became more and more the fashion, and as a definite hierarchy became established, this custom was welcomed by both provincial governors interested in increasing their administrative control and local powers interested in raising their political status. Soon, with the granting of status to whole blocks of deities (sho-shin-doji-joi 諸神同時叙位). The task of ranking deity shrines became the object of shrine administration. In addition, with the strengthening of control by provincial governors over shrine administration through granting ranked status, deity ranking became a provincial affair in which the central government did not attempt to intervene. This development in the administration of local shrines is closely related to the overall historical development process of the Ritsuryo system.

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