GUJI

Guji: translation

Chief priest of a shrine. The highest grade of Shinto priest apart from thesaishuat Ise. After theMeijirestoration the hereditary role of guji was abolished at a number of major shrines including theIse jingu, Hie taisha, Kasuga taisha, Suwa taisha, Kamo-wake-ikazuchi-jinjaand others, and the guji were thenceforth appointed by the government. However in many shrines the role of guji remains in practice hereditary. A guji may be responsible for a single shrine or several (even as many as thirty) small shrines. Guji enjoyed relatively high social status from theMeijirestoration to 1945. In most shrines, except for the very large ones, the role of guji orkannushiis a part-time occupation.

See Shinshoku.