Spatial Structure of Japanese Religion - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 92

was the previous Toban and the uwako was the next Toban . If the occasion
required, the person who would be in charge the following year, and the person
who was in charge the previous year, helped the manager and his assistants. The
staff of the ujiko organization effectively took charge of the managers over fi ve
years. The organization differed from that of Konomata district because there
were no customs such as a dedicated Kamisama and no taboos. The principal
work of the Toban was to dedicate Shinmei-Sha in December and visit
Kanamura in November.
All 42 households belonged to the Kanamura , Osugi, and Atago associa-
tions and there were no taboos. The manager of the tutelary shrine also took in
charge of the Kanamura association. The representative of Shinmei-Sha's ujiko
rotated each year, and the Osugi and Atago associations had a delegate system
to visit both shrines. Two delegate visitors on a rotation system went to each
shrine once a year in January. The associations ensured that no one visited both
shrines the same year. Although the members of both ko also belonged to
Kanamura association, they had different managers.
These four Ko, including Ujiko, had different members. The Osugi and
Atago associations had their own managers, while Kanamura and Shinmei
shared the same one.
(3) Religious Events
Table 3.8 shows the religious events in Nakahigashi region, including details
such as the name of the event, the person in charge, place, and content.
Representatives from each household visited Kanamura on January 3 every
year, at 9 a.m. The group leaders of the neighborhood association used their
cars to take representatives to Kanamura . In 1996, the leader of the district
offered the prayer for the community, and 20,000 yen was donated to Kanamura .
Some of the visitors said private prayers. Five believers living in Nakahigashi
district visited Kanamura the same day (see Fig. 3.29 ). Upon their return, the
community held a New Year party called the hatsu-jokai at the community cen-
ter. One person of each household took part, and the delegate visitors of the
Osugi and Atago associations were confi rmed at the party. They were selected
by lot at the party until around 1980; now, they take turns. In this way, hatsu-
jokai has three meanings to people: fi rst, the meeting of a neighborhood asso-
ciation; second, the New Year party, which has friendship and social functions;
and last, the musubi-ko of both associations.
The Osugi association prayed to prevent epidemics, and the Atago associa-
tion prayed to prevent fi res. It cost 500 yen to join each association. There were
two delegated visitors in each association, and they determined the day of visit.
The delegates went to each shrine to pray and get small amulets for each house-
hold and large amulets for the tsujifuda . When the delegates returned to the
community, they distributed the small amulets to the members and stood the six
large amulets at each street corner. The tsujifuda is a prayer to prevent disaster,
including epidemics and fi res. People usually offered an amulet from the Osugi
Shrine on a household altar and an amulet from the Atago Shrine in the kitchen,
as a kami of the kitchen range. Two persons took care of both associations.