Spatial Structure of Japanese Religion - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 89

In summer, the wheat festival used to be held on June 15 of the old calendar,
but is now held on July 15. The Ujiko men made a sacred straw festoon in the
morning, and women made an ornament of two rice cakes shaped like a stick. The
sacred straw festoon and offerings were dedicated to the Akagi Shrine. Afterwards,
the rice cakes were shared by the members at the Uwado's house, because
members believed that eating the cakes would protect them from disease.
Konomata , being one of the Ujiko communities of Kanamura, sends a man-
ager, not a toke , to visit Kanamura on November 25. The manager is informed
about the autumn festival by mail around the middle of October. Three manag-
ers call on each member to prepare a contribution early in November. The offer-
ing used to be a sho (about 1.8 L) of polished rice, but is now 1,000 yen from
each house. The designated manager records membership fees and lists the
members until November 12. On the festival day, he receives amulets to distrib-
ute each household. There are no religious events after he returns.
The main festival is celebrated on November 15 (in old calendar). The old
calendar was used before 1955; from 1956 to 1994, the festival was celebrated on
December 15; and since then, the festival has been held on the Sunday before
December 15. Before the Second World War, the event was so lively that all
people went to the Shuku to eat their fi ll of the rice harvested at the paddy fi eld of
Akagi Shrine. They looked forward to that day because they had few chances to
eat rice without wheat. Though the festival is not as lively anymore, Ujiko mem-
bers still gather at Shuku to cook three shos of red rice and dedicate it to Akagi
Shrine. They eat it with their fi ngers within the precincts of Akagi Shrine. The red
rice, sake, and rice cake offerings are the same as those of the wheat festival.
When the main festival was over, the annual rite to change the Shinto priest,
called to-watashi, was performed, and the next ceremonial year starts. The
manager of Kanamura had one more task. Amulets from the Ise Jingu, called
jingu-taima , which are dedicated to a household altar, were mailed to him from
Kanamura and he distributed the amulets to Ujiko members.
There were many annual religious events Konomata district every season,
and all members belonging to a ko took part out of principle. A traditional meal
with members and kami was always held after festivals related to the tutelary
shrine at Shuku. In contrast, except for the nissan-hajime, no other events
accompanied religious events related to Kanamura.
(4) Religious Behavior of Inhabitants
In this section, I will consider aspects of the Kanamura faith by analyzing the
religious behavior of the visitors to shrines and temples. The head of T family
(Mr T for short), who took charge of the Uwado in 1996, is a good example of
religious behavior because he visited several shrines and temples every year
(see Fig. 3.28 ). Mr T was an Ujiko member of the Akagi Shrine and Kanamura ,
the shrines that Mr T visited and the frequency illustrates some of this couple's
characteristics. Mr T visited the Akagi Shrine and several small shrines, such as
Atago, Yakushi-nyorai, and Jizo-son daily or monthly. Although the frequency
appears high, all of the shrines were less than a ten minute walk from his house,
and the visits can be made at the same time as recreation, shopping, or strolling.