The current-style Shinto Funeral succeeds the Rules for Ritual Procedure, thought, tradition and so on of Shinto shrines and Shake (family of Shinto priests serving a shrine on a hereditary basis) which have been uninterruptedly handed down even secretly through the Edo period.
現在の形の神葬祭は江戸時代でも神葬祭を陰ながらも連綿と伝えてきた神社や社家の祭式、思想、伝統等を引き継いでいる。