Shinto Shrines - Kannushi

The kannushi (神主, kami master?) or shinshoku (神職, kami employee?) is a priest responsible for the shrine's maintenance and for officiating ceremonies. These two terms were not always synonyms. Originally a kannushi was a holy man who could work miracles and who, thanks to purificatory rites, could work as an intermediary between kami and man, but later the term evolved to being synonymous with shinshoku, that is, a man who works at a shrine and holds religious ceremonies there.

Traditionally, most shrines did not have a kannushi and were maintained by a committee of parishioners called Ujiko (氏子). In a jinguji, Buddhist monks had of course to maintain both their shrine and their temple.