Spatial Structure of Japanese Religion - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 116

Fig. 3.48 Distribution of households joining a Narita association in the Shimo-ucchikawa district,
Yoshikawa City, 1997 (The author's fi eld survey in August, 1997)
night at Mitake Shrine. After 1980, the delegates made a day trip to Mitake
Shrine and stayed overnight at Haruna Shrine. When they returned, the dele-
gates gave the amulets to the master to distribute to each manager, who distrib-
uted the amulets to members at a regular meeting of the neighborhood
association. In September, amulets were sent to the master by mail for distribu-
tion to each member, who forwarded the amulets in the same way.
The membership of both associations has decreased, particularly in the
Mitake association, because this visit offers little opportunity for sightseeing.
I suggest that too many ko visiting shrines and temples also reduce the incentive
to visit Mitake. Five ko in the Higashi, Okuma, Nishi, and Shimo group, and six
ko in the Oyanagi group, and some members of several associations resigned
because they could not visit a shrine every year. In 1997, members adapted the