The celebrated 'disloyalty incident' of 1891 in which the patriotic protestant Christian teacher Uchimura, Kanzo initially refused to bow to the new Imperial Rescript on Education (kyoiku chokugo) installed in his school. When the story was picked up by a newspaper and became a national issue Uchimura was forced to resign, though he had by then agreed to perform the rite. He went on to become a celebrated journalist and founder of the independent Japanese Christian mukyokai or 'Non-churchism' movement. The 'disloyalty incident' provoked attacks on and continuing harrassment of Christians by both Shinto and Buddhist proponents of the emperor system as well as a series of influential articles by Professor Inoue, Tetsujiro who argued that Christianity was incompatible with the duties of a Japanese subject towards the emperor. The rite of bowing to the Rescript and portrait of the emperor was fundamental to 'state Shinto' (see Kokka Shinto) and was standard practice in Japanese schools until 1945.
See also Kokumin girei.
A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Brian Bocking.