Spatial Structure of Japanese Religion - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 126

a year, but Shinshoji and Kawasaki Daishi Temples were only visited once. The
tutelary shrine, Shinhoji and Kawasaki Daishi were the only shrines visited
regularly in a set order. All the informants visited a tutelary shrine on New
Year's Day, and Shinshoji and Kawasaki, in January. No one visited Kanamura
privately in this region. The Kanamura faith and those of Furumine, Togakushi,
Haruna, Mitake, and Itakura Raiden-Jinja were visited to gain divine favor by
community prayer; for example, to seek protection against hailstorms and light-
ning (Kanamura and Itakura), burglars (Mitake), and fi re (Furumine). None of
these sites were visited privately, implying Kanamura was worshipped as a
favor shrine, not a local shrine. In this region, a Kanamura priest had nothing to
do with the community tutelary shrine or distributing amulets. Kanamura was
worshipped by the community, not by individuals.
(2) The Spatial Characteristics of the Second Area
The second area is located in the outer zone to the south of the fi rst area. It
spreads southwest to southeast Ibaraki, in southeast Saitama, and to north
Chiba. Few believers live in this area. Two types of Kanamura associations,
daidai-ko and kinen-ko, were founded before 1860. Each ko had its own man-
ager and members, and the associations in this area were independent, as shown
by rites, such as pre or postmeetings. The Kanamura faith was worshipped as a
favor shrine not a local shrine. Second, in this region, Kanamura was not wor-
shipped privately. Even if people visited, they prayed for divine favor, torigo, or
protection against lightning. The Kanamura faith accepted community prayer
for divine favor, and the relationship between Kanamura and the people was
limited to the delegated visits.
I also think that the Kanamura visits served tourism, and promoted religious
activity, and recreation. The third characteristic is illustrated by the difference
in dantai - ko. Less than 10 % of the group was distributed in the second area,
and all were called Jinja Dantai - ko, derived from the late nineteenth century.
All members of a Jinja Dantai - ko visited Kanamura together; that is, visiting
Kanamura was their purpose. The master and managers always recruited mem-
bers to visit the shrine. Some of the associations planned visits to famous
shrines and temples.
This case is illustrated by the Hatogaya association in the second area. This
group visited three shrines and temples, such as Kanamura, Shinshoji Temple,
and Fuji Sengen Shrine. The master was the representative of a religious corpo-
ration founded by his grandfather in the 1930s. There used to be 70 members
but the number is now down to 46. They rented a tour bus for the visit. In 1996,
after visiting Kanamura, they stayed at Kusatsu hot springs. They visited
Shinshoji Temple three times a year, but Kanamura only once a year in April.
This shows the association in the second area also had a common recreational
characteristic.
Figure 3.51 shows a schematic model of the Kanamura faith. Having
branched from the Kamo Shrine in Kyoto in the tenth century, Kanamura was
believed by each community in the fi rst area to be a local shrine. Many people