The 1945 "Shinto Directive" of the United States General Headquarters introduced the "State Shinto" distinction when it began governing Japan after the Second World War. The Shinto Directive (officially the "Abolition of Governmental Sponsorship, Support, Perpetuation, Control and Dissemination of State Shinto") defined State Shinto as "that branch of Shinto ("Kokka Shinto" or "Jinja Shinto") which, by official acts of the Japanese government, has been differentiated from the religion of Sect Shinto ("Shuha Shinto" or "Kyoha Shinto") and has been classified a non-religious national cult."