From April 5, 1868 (Keio 4), the Japanese government starts shinbutsu bunri (神仏分離), the separation of Shinto from Buddhism.
Previously, Shintoism and Buddhism were integrated. This was known as shinbutsu shogo (神仏習合). Many buildings were used for the services of both religions and they weren’t really experienced as separated religions by the people. Shinto gods were seen as manifestations of Buddhas and visa versa and it was common to have both Shinto and Buddhist buildings in the same complex.
The new Meiji government represented Buddhism as a foreign import and used shinbutsu bunri to reduce the power of the Buddhist sects and to grow Shinto into a tool for nationalism.
A lot of Buddhist property was destroyed, the syncretism of kami and buddhas was forcibly ended, and shrine monks performing Buddhist rites at Shinto shrines (shasou, 社僧 and bettou, 別当) were defrocked. A large number of Buddhist temples fell into disrepair, but the government ultimately failed to destroy the influence of Buddhism because it provided funerals, graves and ancestral rites.
