Geography Reference
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association had no rites before or after visiting. This suggests one aspect of
Kanamura
faith had a different dimension; this concept is supported by the
combination of shrines and a region compared with Osugi or Atago faith. In
Nakahigashi, more people were connected with
Kanamura
. All association
members visited the shrine on January 3, a
Kanamura
priest dedicated the fes-
tival of a tutelary shrine, and the priest distributed amulets of Ise Jingu.
Nakahigashi people appeared more connected to
Kanamura
than to the Osugi
and Atago shrines.
I also note differences between
Kanamura
faith and a tutelary shrine faith.
The festival of a tutelary shrine had taboos for women, and members were not
restricted. Many offerings were donated to the tutelary shrine at the festival. In
contrast, there was no rite of
Kanamura
. When visitors returned from
Kanamura
,
not so much as a meal with kami was prepared. The difference can be discerned
from the religious behavior of informants. A tutelary shrine was visited more
often than any other shrine.
Kanamura
has the second-highest number of visits,
but no one visited the Osugi and Atago shrines privately.
The characteristics of
Kanamura
faith in Toyosato can be summed up as fol-
lows. In this region, there were two types of
Kanamura
associations: the
nich-
igetsunenzan - ko
were derived from the prayer for rain, and the
dantai
-
ko
were
organized after 1940. The
ko
were not independent, but were a part of other
religious or neighborhood associations. It is easy to understand why the man-
ager was also in charge of a representative of the
Ujiko
organization in
Nakahigashi.
Kanamura
is regarded as different from a tutelary shrine. People
in Toyosato prayed to
Kanamura
for soldiers' safety before the Second World
War, so the shrine can be regarded as a local shrine.
Why is
Kanamura
believed to be a local shrine? I consider the primary factor
is the close relationship between
Kanamura
priests and a community. Many
tutelary shrines in Toyosato were also additional shrines of the priest, and the
priest distributed amulets from Ise Jingu or a tutelary shrine. Several festivals
were dedicated by the priest, and representatives of the
Ujiko
organization were
often connected to the priest. This relationship between the people and a
Kanamura
priest encouraged worship of
Kanamura
as a local shrine.
(2) The Spatial Characteristics of the First Area
The fi rst area in the neighborhood of
Kanamura
includes Tsukuba, Mitsukaido,
Ishige town, Ina town, and Yawahara village. Over 80 % of the believers lived
here. The ritual for rain required that a bottle of sacred water be quickly
transported back to a village on foot or by bicycle; thus, the distribution of
nichigetsunenzan-ko
was restricted to the distance that can be covered by a
half-day's walk. Originally, all members of
dantai-ko
were supposed to visit
Kanamura
at least once a month; however, it has changed in quality in the fi rst
area.
Many delegate visitors to the
Kanamura
shrine were selected by a manager
or representative of other organizations instead of a rotation system. One char-
acteristic of the
Kanamura
faith was that it was not an independent organization
but subordinate to another. This is explained by the following three points. First,
the position of manager was not inherited. Second, the representative of another
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