[3] While Daijō-kan handled secular administrative affairs of the country, Jingi-kan oversaw almost all matters related to Shintō, particularly of kami worship.
[3][1] The term jingi-kan is composed of the Chinese character kan (官), "council" or "department," and jingi (神祇), which is an abbreviated form of tenjin chigi (天神地祇), "celestial and terrestrial deities."
[1] Therefore, there are several ways to translate the term jingi-kan in English: This Shinto administrative hierarchy was an intentional mirror of its Chinese counterpart, the Ministry of Rites (禮部).
The department was reinstated in 1868 at the beginning of the Meiji period as a provisional step to achieve saisei itchi.
[1][2] In 1870, the Meiji administration attempted to create a new national religion under the term "Great Teaching" (大教, taikyō), primarily to keep Christianity from accumulating popularity and influence on the Japanese society and to re-educate the population about the significance of the imperial rule.
[1] The goals of the Great Teaching campaign was deemed too ambiguous or too general to be able to be formed into practice, making it difficult for jingi-shō to provide a theoretical and spiritual content to be spread among the public.