Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
(3) Ujiko Region of
Kanamura
The
Ujiko
region of
Kanamura
consists of four former villages: Kamigo,
Tegomaru, Konomata, and Nobata, divided into 29 districts. One to three per-
sons were chosen as managers in each district. Delegate visitors were selected
to dedicate new rice or offer a prayer of gratitude in the autumn festival. Two
shrine maidens danced in three festivals, called
chigomai
. Both shrine maidens
were picked from Raijin, the main district of the
Ujiko.
Raijin was a former
shrine town (before the 1960s) situated on the bank of Kokai River. However,
when Raijin was relocated because of a river improvement project, the eco-
nomic connection between its residents and
Kanamura
disappeared.
3.2.2.2
Regional Division in the Catchment Area of
Kanamura
(1) The Distribution of
Kanamura
Associations
I plotted the distribution of
kinen-ko
in 1949 (Fig.
3.18
) to indicate the catchment
area of
Kanamura
.
Kinen-ko
was found in six prefectures, including central Tokyo,
and was organized in 218 communities. Around 96 % of all the associations in the
catchment area were found in three prefectures: 81 in Chiba, 73 in Ibaraki, and 56
in Saitama. The core area of
kinen-ko
was the northwest of Chiba and the southeast
of Saitama. In contrast, there were few associations in north
Kanamura
. The far-
thest association was in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture. Thus, the catch-
ment area of
Kanamura
stretched to 150 km from the shrine.
The major concentrations of associations in cities, towns, and villages were
Miwanoe village (now in Yoshikawa City), Saitama, 11; Tomisato village,
Chiba, 9; Nanafuku village (now in Noda), Chiba, 8; and Osagami village (now
in Koshigaya), Saitama, 8; Towa village (now in Misato), Saitama 7; Kamagaya
village (now in Kamagaya City) Chiba 7 (Fig.
3.18
). Most
kinen- ko
were in the
villages on northeast Shimousa upland or the Nakagawa lowland, about
20-40 km from
Kanamura
.
Many pioneer villages were developed in northeast Shimousa upland after
1910. Some of these have
Kanamura
associations. For example, Hatsutomi dis-
trict in Kamagaya village was reclaimed from Koganenakano fi eld in 1869, and
an Inari shrine was founded to pray for bumper crops in 1873. There were some
reports about poor crops because of a failure in cultivation or unseasonable
weather. In Hatsutomi district, many
ko
were organized to visit famous shrines
and temples, such as a Fuji association for the Fujisengen Shrine; Furumine, for
the Furumine Shrine; Mitsumine, for the Mitsumine Shrine; Narita, for the
Shinshoji Temple; and Onabake, for the Onabake Shrine. Moreover, various
annual events were held (Kamagaya Local History Center
1993
). Other
ko
were
founded in the villages of Toyoshiki and Toyofuta (now in Kashiwa City),
located on land reclaimed from Kogane-fi eld
.
Harvests were poor because of
crop failure or bad land conditions, and farmers in these pioneer villages formed
ko
to pray for bumper crops;
Kanamura
was worshipped as the lord of rainfall.
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