Spatial Structure of Japanese Religion - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 120

Fig. 3.49 Religious behavior of the inhabitants of the Shimo-uchikawa district, Yoshikawa City,
1997 (The author's fi eld survey in August, 1997)
donated to the Oiwa shrine. Amulets of Ise Jingu were distributed by a Shinto
priest of the Oiwa shrine through a representative of Ujiko, and by managers to
those wanted them.
(4) Religious Behavior of Inhabitants
In this section, I analyze part of the religious behavior of the inhabitants who
visited shrines and temples of the Kanamura faith. I selected one household from
each of the Higashi, Okuma, Nishi, and Oyanagi groups as examples. All the
households were members of the Ujiko organization of Oiwa shrine or other asso-
ciations that visited famous shrines and temples. I consider the households and
their masters or managers to be good examples. Three of the households were
members of a Kanamura association. Figure 3.49 shows the annual religious
behavior of sample households in Shimo-uchikawa area. All the households vis-
ited the Oiwa shrine on New Year's Day and during festivals or for rites of life (for
example, shichigosan ). Three households visited Shinshoji Temple regularly once
a year in January. Although this visit was organized by the Oyanagi group, one
member visited the temple privately every year. Another member regularly visited
Kawasaki Daishi Temple every January to offer a prayer of gratitude for healing.