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Post-war: 1945-1989
As the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, US General Douglas MacArthur issued an order known as the Shinto Directive to the Japanese government on December 15, 1945. This order acted as a means of abolishing State Shinto and restructuring both the roles shrines played in government and everyday society and how other institutions supported the shrines. This included prohibition of financial and ideological support for shrines from every viable level of government, the absolution of the Shrine Board of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the removal of articles of faith like kamidana from publicly funded spaces (i.e. schools, offices, etc.) among many other stipulations. Some of these included the permission for the continuation of private education of Shinto priests under restrictions similarly placed upon other private universities. In 1946, the Association of Shinto Shrines was established to create a network connecting 80,000 shrines within Japan as well as the select few later established in America. In the same year, Emperor Showa made his declaration of humanity and stepped down as the divine ruler of Japan, although he would continue to fulfill his role as the emperor until his death in 1989, upon which Akihito ascended to the throne and began the Heisei period.

Contemporary: 1989-2019
The role Shinto shrines play in contemporary Japanese society depends heavily upon the shrine itself, its history and its location. The Ise Grand Shrine and Izumo-taisha still play large roles in the preservation of traditional culture, namely ancient architecture and traceable mythological history. Ise is rebuilt every every 20 years, houses the sun goddess Amaterasu’s sacred mirror and one of the three Imperial Regalia, the Yata no Kagami, and whose inner sanctum only the shrine staff and the emperor are allowed to enter. Izumo enshrines the kami Ōkuninushi and Kotomatsukami, the ruler kami of Izumo and the collective heavenly kami, and is said to be the location where all of the kami gather in October in a period of time celebrated as a festival known as Kannazuki (神無月, “month with no gods”) outside of Izumo and kamiarizuki (神在月, “month with gods”) within.

In the modern day, visiting shrines for everyday purposes is very common. For example, many students make their way to Kitano Tenmangū in order to pray to Tenjin, the kami of study and education, for good results on their exams. Furthermore, there are many festivals known as matsuri held throughout the year that center around Shinto rites meant to pay homage to the enshrined deities for certain holidays with varying purpose, execution, and scale amongst other factors. The most well-known, both to those within Japan and those beyond, are typically held in the summer.

Miko
Main article: Miko

A miko (巫女) is a young woman who has trained for and taken up several duties at a shrine including the sale of sacred goods(these goods include objects such as amulets known as omamori, wood votive tablets known as ema (Shinto) among other items to visitors), daily tidying of the premises, rites of purification, and performing kagura dances on certain occasions. Shrine maidens and some of the duties they perform currently have been observed to have a root in the roles played by female shamans dating back to the Kofun period being exemplified in certain haniwa statuettes. The current shrine maiden is often a young woman of high school or college age who may be partaking as part time work or as part of family work if her own family is the one who maintains the shrine.