Generally, sokuikanjo referred to the acts combining an act of initiation called 'inmyodenju' and the practice of the teaching; the former was what a person from Sekkan-ke (families that produced the regent and chief adviser to the emperor), usually from the Nijo family, taught the emperor the mudra (Hand Gestures) and the mantra before the enthronement ceremony, and the latter was what the emperor made the initiated mudra and chanted the initiated mantra; but some researchers clearly distinguish between the inmyodenju and the practice of sokuikanjo.
一般的には即位式の前に摂関家、主に二条家の人物から天皇に対して印相と真言が伝授される「印明伝授」と呼ばれる伝授行為と、即位式の中で天皇が伝授された印明を結び、真言を唱える実修行為を併せて即位灌頂と呼んでいるが、印明伝授と即位灌頂の実修を明確に区別する研究者もある。