On April 10, 1874, Kyobusho asked their superior office Dajokan (Grand Council of State) for their view on the appropriateness of compiling Tokusen Shinmyocho targeting mainly those shrines listed in Engishiki or appearing in the six official histories with a suggestion that a remote worship ritual be conducted in the Three Shrines in the Imperial Court (jointly worshiped in the Imperial Sanctuary at the time) in every spring and autumn for all the shrines to be listed and that the lands of those shrines be preserved in the same manner as in the case of the national shrines.
明治7年4月10日上級官である太政官に、式内社と国史見在社を主対象とする本書を編纂し、収載の神社は春秋2季に宮中の宮中三殿（当時は賢所に合祭されていた）にて遙祭し、その社地は官幣社に準じて保存する、という内容の本書編纂の伺いをたてた。