ujiko - local worshippers

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. Legends about the Clan and Family Deities .
ubusugami, see below
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ujiko 氏子 local worshiper, parishioner of a Shinto shrine


source :　kasamori.jimdo.com

They help arrange the seasonal festivals of their shrine and carry the mikoshi palanquin in the festival parade.
They all wear a happi coat of the same pattern. For official situations, they might even come in the formal trouser-skirt, hakama　袴.

quote
Ujiko
Generally, a group from the land surrounding the areas dedicated to the belief in and worship of one shrine; or, the constituents of that group. Because that shrine's kami is called the ujigami, the corresponding term ujiko is used.

There is another term for ujiko, sūkeisha, but often it is the case that the two are distinguished by a geographical classification with ujiko referring to the person from that shrine's ujiko district and sūkeisha referring to the person from outside the district. However, there are also occasions when they are used interchangeably. Article ninety-nine of the present Shūkyō hōjin jinja honchō chōki dictates "Following precedent, we call believers who bear the obligation of supporting the shrine, that shrine's ujiko or sūkeisha, and these persons are to be registered in the respective ujiko and sūkeisha lists."

However, that article is for establishing registration lists, and in article fifteen of the Jinja honchō kenshō it states, "The ujiko is, traditionally, a person who resides in the ujiko district, and the other believers are sūkeisha. Ujiko and sūkeisha are the foundation of shrine support, and the parental body supporting its growth." So, rather than the organizational concept of registration lists, it is defining ujiko emphasizing the traditional concept of naming as ujiko all who reside in the ujiko district.

Also in article fourteen it dictates, "The shrine district is a district traditionally determined by each shrine, and shrines must mutually respect ujiko districts." Long ago, the relationship between the shrine and its worship groups and believer groups was a relationship focused on the ujibito (clan member) and the ancestral kami as the ujigami; however, along with that, elements of the chinjugami and the ubusunagami were added and concepts such as ujibito, ubuko (ubusunagami's follower) and ujiko were mixed and came to develop in combination.
- more about ubusuna is below.

Even by the middle of the Muromachi period it was written in (Urabe) Kanekuni Hyakushukashō, "Generally, the Gion Shrine officials call an ujiko someone who is born in the area between the Gojō area to the south and the Nijō area in the north, and call a person from the area north of Nijō up to Ōharaguchi a Mitama ujiko," showing that the clear classification of ujiko districts by city areas had been born. Furthermore, in the farm villages at this time, along with the creation of self-governing villages called gōson, shrines came to be managed as pieces of village property. It is also thought that at this time (hand in hand with the development of the miyaza) the concepts of the ujigami and ujiko came to be firmly established.
In the Meiji period,
the ujiko tradition was taken very serious in the governments shrine policies, and while the ujiko shirabe system from Meiji four (1871) was soon halted due to its being limited to partial enforcement, soon afterward the ujiko sōdai system was installed alongside the administrational institutions for towns and villages in the countryside. In that way, the foundation of present day shrine operations was established. Due to today's Religious Corporation Law (Shūkyō Hōjinhō), the shrine ujiko system has lost its administrative regulations and has turned into something maintained only by practice and belief.
We can also see the phenomenon
that movement of the population; the development of large scale housing areas; the redevelopment of city areas; land reclamation and other types of engineering enterprises; and changes in administrative sectioning, among other things, cause various problems for traditional ujiko districts and the retention of ujiko consciousness.
See sūkeisha , Shrine Parishioner Registration (ujiko shirabe)
source : Sano Kazufumi, Kokugakuin, 2007


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Ujiko Chizu 氏子地図　the Map of Ujiko
(Ujiko means people under the protection of the local deity), which is owned by the shrine, was made in 1631. It shows 14 villages in Ishikawa County and is called "Kashu Ishikawa-no-kohri Utsushi Ezu 加州石川郡写絵図" (Pictures of Ishikawa County, Kashu Prefecture).
The map shows the locations of feudal warriors' residences, temples and shrines, towns, villages, slopes, and bridges, giving an idea of what the castle town of Kanazawa used to look like.

. Ishiura Jinja 石浦神社 . Kanazawa


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. ubusuna 産土 place where I was born, furusato 故郷 .

The place where a baby is born and gets its first clothes (ubugi). There the local gods live (ubusunagami 産土神), who protect the baby. In haiku, it can therefore carry a lot of meaning.

ubugami 産神 "deity of birth"
guardian deity of pregnant women, newborn babies and one's birthplace

Visit to a temple of the God of one's birthplace (ubusunagami - 産土神)
. ubusuna mairi 産土神参 .
kigo for the New Year

. Hōkigami 箒神 Hokigami, Hahakigami - the Broom Deity .
Another version of the Ubugami.


ubusuna ishi うぶすな石 stone for the deity of birth

These stones are offered by pregnant women with the wish to have a safe birth. After the child is born, the stone is given back to the Shrine.

- quote -
Umenomiya Shrine 梅の宮神社　/ 梅宮大社　in Kyoto
enshrines Oyamazumi-no-kami, the god who first brewed sake, and his child goddess Konohana-no-sakuyahime-no-mikoto. Nihonshoki, the oldest history book in Japan, records that Oyamazumi-no-kami congratulated Konohana-no-sakuyahime-no-mikoto on her childbirth by brewing sake for her. Therefore, sake brewers worship at the shrine.
Myth tells us that Konohana-no-sakuyahime-no-mikoto gave birth to a god, Hikohohodemi-no-mikoto, the day following her marriage. Thus, Umenomiya Shrine attracts women wishing for an easy delivery.
Matage-ishi (stone) and Ubu-suna (sand)
Matage-ishi and Ubu-suna are famous attractions at Umenomiya Shrine
It is said that a couple will be able to have a baby if they pray to the god for a child and then step over Matage-ishi. Empress Danrin was childless. However, she was able to have the next emperor, Ninmyo, because she stepped over Matage-ishi. Also, when Empress Danrin gave birth, she spread sand from under the main building of Umenomiya Shrine under her bed and gave birth to her son without complications. So, that sand has become known as Ubu-suna and is regarded as a talisman for easy birth. Even now, many couples pay homage at Umenomiya Shrine to pray for a child and for an easy birth.
- source : thekyotoproject.org ... -

- quote
Ubusunagami
The tutelary kami of one's birthplace. Also known as ubusuna. A variety of orthographical representations for the term ubusuna are found historically, including 本居, 生土, 参土, 宇夫須那, and 産須那. In any case, the element ubu means birth, though opinion is divided regarding the significance of suna.
In some locales, the ubusunagami appears related to the ubugami, a tutelary of infants and pregnant women; in these cases, it is customary to pay respects immediately following childbirth at a small shrine (hokora) to the ubusunasama or ubugamisama located within the residential grounds.
While the conceptual basis for ubusunagami originally differed from those for ujigami and chinjugami, the three are frequently confused. Medieval warrior clans strengthened their presence on shōen (manors) by acting as protectors of local villages, and in the process, they adopted as clan tutelaries kami with strong local territorial affiliations, resulting in an amalgamation of the local ubusunagami and clan ujigami. From this period one thus finds historical documents that read both 産神(ubugami) and 氏神(ujigami) as ubusuna.
In the early modern period, the traditional relationship between a clan tutelary (ujigami) and its protégés (ujiko) was mirrored by the custom of using the term ubuko　産子 to refer to the followers of an ubugami.
Finally, based on the etymology of the terms ubusunagami (or ubugami) and ubuko, examples are frequently seen in which the traditional first post-natal shrine visit (hatsumiyamōde) and other ordinary worship at an ujigami shrine are alternately referred to as ubusunamairi (paying worship at the ubusuna).
source : Iwai Hiroshi, Kokugakuin


. Shiba Myoojin Guu 芝神明宮 Shrine Shiba Myojin Gu, Tokyo .
Under the protection of the Edo bakufu government, the shrine thrived, seen as
the Great Protector Deity of the Region, Ubusunagami 大産土神.

. 七ヶ村の産土神 Seven Ubusugami from Ishiura Shrine 石浦神社 .
Kanazawa

in Akita : obosuna sama オボスナ様 / おぼすな様
noogami 農神 / ノウガミ様 - deity for agriculture, especially the rice fields
. Sake 酒 rice wine for rituals and festivals .

yama no kami 山の神 Deity of the Mountain (a female deity)
is also venerated as
o-san no kami お産の神 the deity of birth.
For a difficult delivery, she comes to welcome the dead to the mountain.
Since she dislikes Sanbi, a family where a birth happened is not allowed to enter the mountain for one week.

. sanbi 産火 / 産忌 - - shinibi 死火 / 死忌 fire taboos for birth and death .

. Hi no Kami, Hinokami 火の神 Deity of Fire - Legends .

. San no Kami in Yamagata 山形県 .


. Boshijin, Hahakogami 母子神　"Mother-Child Deity" .


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袴著や八幡宮の氏子だち
hakamagi ya Hachimanguu no ujiko tachi

they come clad in Hakama trousers -
all the parishioners
from Hachimangu

. Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規 visiting shrines and temples .


. Hachiman Shrines .
The Warrior Deity Hachiman 八幡神, deifiction of Emperor Oojin 応神天皇　Ojin,


. Formal trouser-skirt (hakama 袴) .


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いわし雲神も氏子も酒が好き
iwashigumo kami mo ujiko mo sake ga suki

sardine clouds -
the gods and the parishioners
all like sake

Itoo Yoshito 伊藤よしと Ito Yoshito

. sardine clouds, iwashigumo 鰯雲 .


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この宮の我も氏子よ札納
kono miya no ware mo ujiko yo fuda osame

at this shrine
I am one of the parishioners -
bringing back the old amulet

. Abe Midorijo 阿部みどり女 .

. fuda osame 札納 bringing back the old year amulets .


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神の田の水を氏子の田へ落とす
岬雪夫

諏訪明神のわれも氏子よ新酒酌む
矢崎良子

鉄砲洲稲荷の氏子心太突き出し
長谷川かな女


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ujigami　氏神 clan KAMI deities


source :　yamauchisekizai.co.jp
New construction of a small ujigami Inari shrine.


- quote
"Clan kami," in ancient Japanese society, an ancestral kami or other tutelary worshiped by individuals sharing the same clan (uji) name. As a result of historical changes in the composition of groups worshiping such kami, however, ujigami today are most frequently identified with local chthonic tutelaries (including both chinjugami and ubusunagami).

As medieval warrior clans strengthened their presence on the local manors known as shōen, they gradually adopted local indigenous tutelaries as their own ujigami, and the people worshiping those ujigami likewise evolved from consanguineous familial organizations to groups linked by the mere sharing of residence in the same geographical area. This process thus resulted in the merging of clan kami (ujigami) and local geographical tutelaries (ubusunagami).

Around the same time, shrines to chinjugami-originally enshrined as the tutelaries of specific buildings or pieces of land-came to be formally dedicated (kanjō) within noble-owned manors as well, leading to a merging of ujigami and chinjugami. Today, ujigami cults can be broadly classified into three types.
The first is the "village ujigami"; in this type, each local resident is considered a "clan member" (ujiko) and participates in worshiping the kami.
The second is called variously yashiki-ujigami or ie-ujigami, a type of kami enshrined in a small shrine (hokora) within the grounds of individual family dwellings.
The final type is referred to as an ikke-ujigami or maki-ujigami, and occupies an intermediate position between the other two types, since it is worshiped by all members of an extended family (ikke) or local neighborhood grouping (maki).
source : Iwai Hiroshi, Kokugakuin 2005

ikke ujigami 一家氏神
maki ujigami まき氏神
yashiki ujigami　屋敷氏神 - . yashikigami　屋敷神 "estate deities" .


. chinjugami　鎮守神 tutelary deities .

. mitamaya 御霊屋 mausoleum .


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氏神の千年杉や初詣
ujigami no sennen sugi ya hatsu moode

the thousand-year old pine
of the ancester deity -
first shrine visit
Tr. Gabi Greve

Mizutani Junichiroo 水谷純一郎 Mizutani Junichiro



氏神の杉に貂住む平家村
ujigami no sugi ni ten sumu heike murs

in the thousand-year old pine
of the ancestor deity there lives a marten -
village of the Heike clan
Tr. Gabi Greve

Nishimura Shigeko 西村しげ子


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氏神と墓と雷鴫の道 成井恵子
氏神の囲ひ済ませて神迎 渡辺セツ
氏神の屋根新しき冬木立 寺田寅彦
氏神の御屋根普請や冬木立 寺田寅彦
氏神の溝より浚ひはじめけり 吉田丁冬
氏神は森に隠れて霜くすべ 廣瀬直人
氏神へ飾納の老夫婦 杉山木川

人住まぬ氏神の木の冬鴉 廣瀬直人
仲秋の月につれだち氏神へ 大庭 光子
注連張つて氏神の杜暗くなる 福田甲子雄
舟子ども海の氏神まつりぞや 古川沛雨亭
藁危で作る氏神初御空 高久田みのる

source : HAIKUreikuDB


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笛吹きて鳶も産土神迎へけり
fue fukite tobi mo ubugami mukae-keri

whistling loud
even this Tombi welcomes
the birthplace gods

Nohara Shunroo 野原春醪 Nohara Shunro

. WKD : tobi 鳶 Tobi, Tombi - black kite .

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冬田打つ産土神に見守られ
fuyuta utsu ubusunagami ni mimorarete

preparing the winter fields
we are protected
by the birthplace gods . . .

Tanaka Masako 田中政子


. WKD : tauchi　田打ち preparing the fields .
lit. "hitting the fields"

産土神に土俵組みゐる八朔盆 香川はじめ
産土神に灯あがれる若葉かな 芝不器男
産土神に焚く田遊びのはじめの火 佐野美智
産土神に秋繭供へ遠野人 平山節子
産土神に隣れる家の大種井 波多野爽波
産土神に雀の遊ぶ年の内 丸岡宣子
産土神に露けき老のひと屯ろ 石田勝彦 秋興
産土神に頬被解く田植道 阿波野青畝
産土神の上蠍座の夜の秋 町田しげき
産土神の森に逃げ込む稲雀 根岸すみ子
産土神の椎は日向のお元日 太田鴻村 穂国
産土神の留守やわがもの顔に猫 杉本寛
産土神の茅の輪大きく楕円なり 中尾杏子
産土神の針金細工子かまきり 合田秀渓
産土神は大河のほとり初明り 老川敏彦
産土神へ懸けしばかりの菜もありぬ 田中裕明
産土神へ搗きたて餅や年の夜 島田教夫
産土神を村の高みに秋気澄む 川勝 ミヨ
産土神を良き座に秋の島歌舞伎 宮津昭彦
source : HAIKUreikuDB


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. Legends about the Clan and Family Deities .

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