Spatial Structure of Japanese Religion - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 114

Fig. 3.46 Distribution of households joining a Kanamura association in the Shimo-ucchikawa
district, Yoshikawa City, 1997 (The author's fi eld survey in August, 1997)
Furumine Shrine is worshipped as a kami to protect against fi re. A fi re rav-
aged Yoshikawa about 1845, and afterwards, an association was organized to
visit Furumine to pray for fi re protection. A meeting was held at the master's
house in April to select delegates and pay the membership fee. Delegates used
a car and took turns to visit the shrine. After a meal with kami at a shrine, the
delegates returned to the community, and handed the amulets to the master, who
distributed them to the managers to pass on to each member at the regular meet-
ing of the neighborhood association.
The same master and managers also organized the association's visits to
Haruna and Mitake shrines. These shrines have been visited since the late