Spatial Structure of Japanese Religion - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 46

Railroad service, especially the Mito Line (1889), came into service. 3 According to
the bylaws for one Kasama Inari - ko established in 1904, 50 persons were members
with fi ve assigned caretakers. Ten sen were saved per person per month, accumulat-
ing to 60 yen a year that was spent on a dedication of fi ve yen, a music dedication,
an altar fee of three yen, an offering of two yen, and travel expenses of 50 yen for
ten persons worshiping on behalf of the 50 association members. Ten persons were
selected by lot to worship on behalf of the group, and to offer prayers for safe
homes, commercial prosperity, and a good harvest of grain in the spring of every year.
Each ko established a constitution that determined member contributions, the
representative worshiper, and the relevant prayers and dedications. Most of the asso-
ciations were formed in the same region or by the same occupation, and usually had
terms of 2-5 years. Following the leads of the representative of the ko and the man-
ager (who takes care of general affairs and accounting), the worshipers worshiped
at Kasama Inari and prayed while staying one night at a regular inn. Some ko would
dedicate a frame or monument when the ko matured or a prayer was fulfi lled
(Kasama City History Editorial Committee 1988 : pp. 162-166).
In 1904, there were about 330 Kasama Inari - ko. Most (148), about 45 % of all
ko associations, were in Chiba Prefecture. Eighty-six associations were in Ibaraki
(about 26 %), followed by 29 in Fukushima (about 9 %), 21 in Tochigi, and 19 in
Saitama. The distribution by region reveals 80 associations in Katori-gun; 27 in
Sosa-gun; 15 in Kaijo-gun, Chiba; 17 in Kashima-gun; and 14 in Taga-gun, Ibaraki.
These data reveal that from the late nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth
century, ko existed downstream of the Tone River to the coast of the Pacifi c Ocean
at Ibaraki. This supports the hypothesis that Kasama Inari was followed by people
in rural areas who prayed for a good harvest, and by those engaged in transportation
by water, who prayed for safety at sea and on ships.
The distribution of the Kasama Inari -ko in 1993 is shown in Fig. 3.8 . This fi gure
includes 512 ko that worshiped in groups at Kasama Inari at least once between
January 1988 and May 1993, and 75.6 % ko that worshiped regularly once a year.
Twenty-two ko were located in Noda City, thirteen in Mito, twelve in Koto; Chuo,
Sumida, Kasama, and Kawaguchi cities each had eleven ko ; Katsushika, Arakawa,
Koshigaya cities, and Iwai-shi all had ten ko .
The basic organization of each Kasama Inari - ko was as follows. A representative
of the ko is called a komoto or sendatsu who is generally responsible for the ko's
operations. Each komoto was assigned several assistants called caretakers who com-
municated with members, arranged buses, and managed the accounting when wor-
shiping at the Kasama Inari. The membership of a Kasama Inari - ko was not fi xed
and might change every year; worshipers were signifi cantly affected by the capa-
bilities of the caretakers.
3 In 1913, Kasama Jinsha Kido (later changed to Kasama Inari Kido), abolished in 1930, was laid
down from Kasama Station to Kasama Inari Gate for the purpose of transporting worshipers to
Kasama Inari . According to the history of Kasama, many worshipers used the train on the 1st and
15th of every month, on event days, and in the fl ower-watching season.