Spatial Structure of Japanese Religion - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 106

November 23; four lived in Tomishinden, and two in Takadomi. There was an asso-
ciation for Kanamura before 1985. After the association stopped, previous manag-
ers visited the shrine privately in autumn. Accordingly, I suggest the Kanamura was
worshipped by a community, not an individual. In the following section, we will
consider an aspect of Kanamura faith by analyzing the case of the
Shimo-uchikawa area.

3.2.4.2 An Aspect of Kanamura Faith in the Shimo-uchikawa Area

The Shimo-uchikawa area is northeast of Yoshikawa. Houses are built on the low-
land, about 3 m above the sea level, along the right bank of Edo River, across the
river from Noda in Chiba. An athletic park has been developed to the east in the
riverbed of Edo River, and is used by in the residents of Yoshikawa, Koshigaya, and
Soka cities. Kawafuji-Noda Street runs along the bank connecting Shimo-uchikawa
and central Yoshikawa.
In the early Edo period, Shimo-uchikawa was the fi ef of Matsubushi. In the fi rst
part of the 1800s, there were 74 households; by 1875, there were 87 households
with 423 persons (Takeuchi 1980 ). Housing is distributed from the north to the cen-
tral section of Kawafuji-Noda Street. Most land was used for paddy fi elds, although
some land to the north was used to cultivate negi or lettuce. The size of the built up
area has gradually increased. The population of Shimo-uchikawa consisted of fi ve
groups named Higashi, Okuma, Nishi, Shimo, and Oyanagi, derived from a fi ve-
family neighborhood unit in the Edo era. Various organizations, including a neigh-
borhood or ko were based on these groups. In 1995, 132 households and 605 persons
lived in the area.

(1) Religious Landscape
Figure 3.39 shows the distribution of religious facilities in Shimo-uchikawa
area. A tutelary shrine, Oiwa shrine, was dedicated in the center of the com-
munity. The front entrance gate faced east, and pagodas of nineteen-nights,
Buddhist images, and monuments to the Jizo and Hakusan avatars, all made of
stone, were placed in the shrine's precincts. Four Nyotai shrines, two Tenjin
shrines, and one Inari shrine were built in the Oiwa shrine in 1912. Oiwa was
the only tutelary shrine worshipped in this area.
Shokakuin, east of Oiwa shrine, was opened in 1504. This shrine belonged
to the Buzan party of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. The shrine contained many
stone pagodas, such as seimen-ko ngo, koshin , and nineteen-nights. There were
two former temples in this area, Saiko to the west and Kongoin to the south.
Both were used as cemeteries. A Juichimen Kannon in Kongoin was wor-
shipped by the people in Oyanagi and is unveiled every 12 years. An association
to pray to Amitabha also met in this temple.
Two stone monuments were dedicated by a former manager in the Sengen
Shrine, and by an association organized to climb Mt. Fuji before the Second
World War. No one belonged to the Nyotai Shrine to the north of the Oiwa
Shrine.