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How did Shinto support loyalty to the emperor during the Meiji period?

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Map showing the territorial expansion of the Japanese Empire from 1870 to 1942 across East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The map uses color codes to indicate the original Japanese territory in 1870, subsequent acquisitions, and the farthest extent of Japanese occupation and conquest by 1942, including parts of China, Korea, Manchuria, Southeast Asia, and numerous Pacific islands. An inset map displays the broader reach of Japanese control at its peak. — Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, 1870–1942.

During the Meiji period, the Japanese government institutionalized Shinto to serve as a foundation for national unity and absolute loyalty to the emperor. By framing the emperor as a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu and a figure of divine ancestry, the state elevated his status to that of a "sacred and inviolable" leader.1234

To cultivate this loyalty, the government implemented several key strategies:

State Control: The government assumed administration of over 100,000 Shinto shrines, effectively using them as centers for nationalistic ritual.2
Education: Shinto ideology and Confucian ethics were integrated into the compulsory national education system. Through moral teaching (shūshin), students were instructed that reverence for the emperor was a patriotic duty.12
Secular Framing: To maintain a veneer of religious freedom while mandating participation, the state characterized this State Shinto as a secular, patriotic cult rather than a religion, thereby requiring all subjects to participate in shrine obeisance regardless of their personal religious beliefs.12

Through these methods, the imperial institution became the central focus of Japanese nationalism.34