Spatial Structure of Japanese Religion - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 73

Fig. 3.22 Distribution of donors of crops, 1995 (Kanamura offi ce)
districts in Tsukuba, including the Ujiko region, Kanagawa Prefecture, Central
Tokyo, and Tochigi (located in the nearest or outer zone of the Kanamura catch-
ment area) visited in winter.
The next most popular visiting period was autumn (September to November;
279 visitors, 27 %) followed by spring (March to May; 196, 19 %), and summer
(June to August; 61 5.8 %). Many believers who visited Kanamura in the
autumn lived in the vicinity. For example, 74 came from Mitsukaido; 47, from
Iwai; 38, from Toyosato district in Tsukuba, and 38, from Ishige town. The larg-
est number of believers who visited in spring (26) came from Iwai, followed by
25 from Mitsukaido, 22 from Toyosato district in Tsukuba, and 19 from Ina
town. Believers who went to Kanamura in spring or autumn usually timed their
visit for the festival. Some believers went to Kanamura as delegated visitors of
daidai-ko or dantai - ko. Judging by the content of the prayers, summer believers
sought protection from lightning, although fewer people visited in this season.
Believers were distributed on the fringe of the catchment area, such as in Misato,
Sekiyado town, and Sashima town.
Figure 3.22 shows the distribution of crop donors. 12 Crop donations express
prayer for bumper crops or for gratitude. Most donations were polished rice;
other gifts included turnips, bamboo shoots, or eggs, because people believe the
kami of Kanamura favors bamboo shoots and eggs. There were 232 persons