During the U.S. occupation, a new constitution was drawn up. This enshrined freedom of religion in Japan and initiated the separation of church and state, a measure designed to eradicate State Shinto. As part of this, the Emperor formally declared that he was not a kami; any Shinto rituals performed by the imperial family became their own private affair. This disestablishment ended government subsidies to shrines and gave them renewed freedom to organise their own affairs. In 1946 many shrines formed a voluntary organisation, the Association of Shinto Shrines (Jinja Honchō). In 1956 the association issued a creedal statement, the "keishin seikatsu no kōryō" ("general characteristics of a life lived in reverence of the kami"), to summarise what they regarded as Shinto's principles. By the late 1990s around 80% of Japan's Shinto shrines were part of this association.