Spatial Structure of Japanese Religion - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 94

A summer festival called the manto of Kannon was held every August 17th
of the new calendar. It was also called jushichi-ya. This celebration was a Bon
Festival (a festival honoring the spirits of one's ancestors) and all households
took part. Men stood a banner of join-sama in the yard of the community center,
and people enjoyed the Bon dance there in the evening. The preparation and
management of the summer festival were carried out by groups of neighbor-
hood associations. Two groups took turns to take charge of it, and the leaders of
both groups became managers.
On November 23, ko delegates visited Kanamura to celebrate the autumn
festival. In contrast to Konomata, there is no taboo in case of death, and all mem-
bers could take part in the Kanamura association every year. The announcement
of the autumn festival was mailed to a representative of Ujiko around the middle
of October. He called on each member to ask for 1,500 yen early in November.
He kept the membership fee and made a list of members until November 15. In
the morning of November 23, he and the shimoko visited Kanamura and received
amulets for distribution. When they returned, the Toban gave them to each
household. The middle-sized amulet received by the people was the prayer for
the family's safety, and was dedicated on a household altar. There were no reli-
gious events that involved meeting and having a meal with kami .
The main festival was held on the second Sunday in December. Women were
not permitted to take part. The day before the festival, the precinct of Shinmei-
Sha was cleaned by fi ve staff of the Ujiko organization who decorated a gateway
at the entrance to Shinmei-Sha with a sacred straw festoon. On Sunday morn-
ing, three banners kept by the Toban were installed in the precinct. A Kanamura
priest dedicated Shinmei-Sha at the festival, and ate lunch at the Toban's house.
The festival began at 1 p.m. in front of the shrine. The priest offered a Shinto
prayer to kami . People dedicated two bottles of homemade fermented sweet
sake, a sho of polished rice, and offered marine and land produce.
The toban prepared the offerings a week in advance, by putting sweet sake
in two, communally owned bottles that were wrapped in hanshi , with a leaf of
Japanese cedar and a two-tone paper cord. The marine produce included sea
tangle and two dried cuttlefi sh, and the land produce included negi, Japanese
radishes, cabbages, burdocks, and carrots (two of each). The marine and land
produce was wrapped like the sweet sake. The offerings have not changed since
about 1970. The ritual ends within an hour or so, and a meal with kami is held
at the community center about 2 p.m.
Although 2,000 yen was collected for food, the toban paid for any excess.
Recently, food was ordered to save labor. The seating arrangement was fi xed: the
toban sat at the top, the next toban sat at the second spot, and so on. Relatives of
the toban prepared a meal with kami , during which they discussed the schedule of
the next festival. Amulets of Ise Grand and Shinmei-Sha were distributed to each
household. The festivities were over by half past three. Offerings to Shinmei-Sha,
except sweet sake and ten shos of polished rice, were dedicated by a Kanamura
priest. The day after the festival, the rite to change the toban was performed. He
handed the two communally owned bottles and three banners to his successor.
The annual religious events of Nakahigashi district refl ect the characteristics