characteristics of a life lived in reverence of the "), to summarise what they regarded as Shinto's principles. By the late 1990s around 80% of Japan's Shinto shrines were part of this association. In the post-war decades, many Japanese blamed Shinto for encouraging the militarism which had led to defeat and occupation. Others remained nostalgic for State Shinto, and concerns were repeatedly expressed that sectors of Japanese society were conspiring to restore it. Various legal debates revolved around the involvement of public officials in Shinto. In 1965, for instance, the city of Tsu, Mie Prefecture paid four Shinto priests to purify the site where the municipal athletic hall was to be built. Critics brought the case to court, claiming it contravened the constitutional separation of religion and state; in 1971 the high court ruled that the city administration's act had been unconstitutional, although this was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1977. During the post-war period, Shinto themes often blended into Japanese new religious movements. Of the Sect Shinto groups, Tenrikyo was probably the most successful, although in 1970 it repudiated its Shinto identity. Shinto perspectives also influenced popular culture. The film director Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli for instance acknowledged Shinto influences on his films such as Spirited Away. Shinto also spread abroad through both emigration and conversion by non-Japanese. The Tsubaki Grand Shrine in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, was the first to establish a branch abroad: the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America, initially located in California and then moved to Granite Falls, Washington. During the 20th century, most academic research on Shinto was conducted by Shinto theologians, often priests, bringing accusations that it often blurred theology with historical analysis. From the 1980s onward, there was a renewed academic interest in Shinto both in Japan and abroad. Demographics Most Japanese participate in several religious traditions, with Breen and Teeuwen noting that, "with few exceptions", it is not possible to differentiate between Shintoists and Buddhists in Japan. The main exceptions are members of minority religious groups, including Christianity, which promote exclusivist worldviews. Determining the proportions of the country's population who engage in Shinto activity is hindered by the fact that, if asked, Japanese people will often say "I have no religion". Many Japanese avoid the term "religion", in part because they dislike the connotations of the word which most closely matches it in the Japanese language, . The latter term derives