Encyclopedia of Shinto

Main Menu:   
Links:   

詳細表示 (Complete Article)

カテゴリー1： 3. Institutions and Administrative Practices
カテゴリー2： Modern and Contemporary
Title
Shrine Parishioner Registration (ujiko shirabe)
Text
A set of regulations for the registration of parishioners at large and small shrines promulgated by the Council of State (Dajōkan) that was in operation for two years from the fourth day of the seventh month of 1871 until May 29, 1873. The regulations for shrine parishioner registration comprised seven articles, the first of which stipulated that "The birth of all children must be reported to the village head for certification, and the newborn must be taken to the local shrine [with the certificate] to receive a shrine amulet which must remain in the child's possession." Those who did not possess such an amulet were to report to the village head their place of birth, name, date of birth, and father's name. The village head would then convey this information to the local shrine in exchange for an amulet. Amulets would be inspected by the village head every six years when the registration exercise was appraised, and when a family member died his amulet was to be returned to the shrine priest (kannushi). In order for this system to function, it was vital for people to be identified as parishioners (ujiko) of a specific shrine, and this was the function of another set of regulations issued at the same time known as Regulations for Rural District Shrines (Gōsha teisoku). These regulations stipulated that there was to be one rural district shrine (gōsha) for each district, and these shrines were made responsible for overseeing registration. Shrine parishioner registration was designed to function as the mechanism for the registration of all the newborn, but one theory holds that its architects also anticipated shrines would hereby assume a role akin to that of temple registration in early modern Japan. The regulations for parishioner registration endured for only a short while, but the stipulations regarding district shrines endured until the post war period.
— Inoue Nobutaka

No sound/音声なし

No movie/映像なし