After Haibutsu-kishaku (a movement to abolish Buddhism) in the Meiji period, approval from the Imperial Court was no longer necessary and the term was used as the title of the chief priest in Tendai Sect temples.
明治の廃仏毀釈以降は朝廷の承認がなくなり、天台宗管長の敬称として使用されるようになった。