Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
In the Edo period, worship took 3 days and two nights, with Sakura Road (Senju-
Niijuku-Koiwa-Ichikawa-Funabashi-Sakura-Narita-Teradai) as the main venue.
Teradai Village was originally a post station on the Katori-Kashima Road, but as
Narita became more prosperous, the post-station function began to diminish in
importance. Monzenmachi formed from the four towns of Honmachi, Nakamachi,
Daimachi (presently Saiwaicho, Kamicho and Hanasakicho), and Tamachi to pro-
vide services for worshipers from Edo (Narita City History Editorial Committee
1986a ). Inns were opened in Tsuchiya, a neighboring village, to cater to the infl ux
of worshipers from Ryugasaki, who used a back road via Tsuchiya (Narita City
History Editorial Committee 1986a ). In 1858, a “Narita Worship Diary” was pub-
lished to describe interesting places along the way from Edo to Narita, indicating
many worshipers must have come from Edo.
In modern times, the number of worshipers decreased after the Haibutsu Kishaku
(separation of Shintoism from Buddhism), but omnibuses (carriages) connected
Tokyo and Narita in 1883. The Narita railroad between Narita and Sakura opened in
1897, between Narita and Namerikawa in 1901, and between Narita and Ajiki, and
Narita and Ueno in 1902, (Narita City History Editorial Committee 1986b ). Day
trips became possible from Tokyo, which increased the number of worshipers. By
1897, Monzenmachi was known as “7 Monzenmachi,” because it incorporated
Motojuku (now Motomachi), Tamachi, Nakamachi, Yokomachi (now Saiwaicho),
Kamicho, Sunada (now Azumamachi), and Hanasakicho (which was separated
from Kamicho) (“Kadokawa Japan Place-names Dictionary” edited by Narita City
Editorial Committee 1984).
According to the “List of Town Roads from the Private Railroad Narita Station to
Monzendori around 1910” (Sakaguchi 1991 ), inns, restaurants, and souvenir shops
and shops used by local residents lined the Omotesando. Kamicho had clinics,
kimono shops, meat wholesalers, watch shops, and rice shops; Hanasakicho had fuel
shops, barbers, photography shops, and banks. By the 1920s, the number of worship-
ers had increased, and movie theaters, Geisha houses, and hotels opened in
Monzenmachi ( Asahi 2005 ). More shops opened in Hanasakicho, near the railroad
station, and in Kamicho, between the railroad station and Shinshoji, to cater to day-
trippers. However, the number of inns declined throughout Monzenmachi (Narita
City History Editorial Committee 1986b ). The railroad system stimulated a change
from ko group to individual worship (Narita City History Editorial Committee 1982 ).
In 1933, the Keisei Line began providing services on all railroad lines. After that
date, employees and elementary school students from Tokyo began to visit Shinshoji,
which then developed into a tourist destination. Monzenmachi strengthened its
character as a downtown spot, but ko worship decreased (Narita City History
Editorial Committee 1982 ).
The Second World War stimulated worshipers who could use the railroads to
visit the temple and pray for victory (Narita City History Editorial Committee
1986b ). Immediately after the War, the number of worshipers drastically decreased
(Narita City History Editorial Committee 1986b ), but numbers began to increase
again after 1955 as the postwar recovery progressed. After a period of high eco-
nomic growth, the number of worshipers who visited by car, instead of by railroad,
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