Both the results of the hatsumōdë survey published in Jinja Shinpō on March 9th and a couple of articles, including the front page lead, on March 16th deal with the distribution of Jingū Taima. Jingū Taima are ofuda from Isë Jingū, and the position of the Shinto establishment is that every household in Japan should have one on their kamidana. According to the articles published on the 16th, last season (that is, over the new year period coming into this year) 7,836,747 were distributed, a fall of 106,101 from the previous year, and of 1,695,902 from the peak of 9,532,649 recorded in 1994.
These overall results were reflected in the survey, in which 192 priests reported no change in the number they had distributed, 108 reported a fall, and 73 reported a rise. Among those priests who reported a fall, 75% of the jinja were in rural or depopulated areas.
Many jinja are working to increase the number that they distribute, because both Isë Jingū and Jinja Honchō strongly push this. A lot of jinja said that they put up flags or posters, or used materials from Jingū or Jinja Honchō. Quite a few said that they held matsuri to mark the beginning of distribution, which would raise awareness among the ujiko. There were also a range of distinctive activities, such as always distributing a Jingū Taima with the jinja’s own ofuda, or taking them to matsuri performed outside the jinja, or telling young couples that they were important to protect the home and children. A couple of priests mentioned education for the young women serving as miko over new year, as well. One priest mentioned changing the label from “Jingū Taima” to “Isë Jingū’s Ofuda” so that visitors would know what it was. One priest, reporting from a prefecture that has a good distribution rate (that is, a high number relative to the population) reported that the prefectural Jinjachō had got to the point that people thought it was natural to have a Jingū Taima and their own jinja’s ofuda, and now could offer information about staffed jinja where people could get them to keep the numbers high.
There was also a report of “some other jinja” that distributed more Jingū Taima than it had ujiko, and managed this by taking them along and handing them over after performing matsuri at the home. In some areas, it is traditional to have such matsuri performed at least once a year, and although almost all these people have a Jingū Taima already, the priest apparently says that there is no problem with having more than one. Jinja Shinpō describes this as a strange approach, but given the emphasis on numbers I would not be surprised to see it taken up elsewhere.
On the other hand, there were also a lot of priests who reported that they were distributing Jingū Taima to just about all of the ujiko in the area, but the population was falling, and so the number of Jingū Taima was also falling. In some cases, working to keep the numbers constant was still an option, but not always. One comment reported at length noted that the next generation could see priests struggling to keep the numbers up, and making sacrifices to do so, and that this was putting people off becoming priests.
There is clearly a problem here. As noted in the last post, hatsumōdë numbers are holding steady, at worst, and the number of visitors to Isë Jingū itself is at a high level. Nevertheless, the numbers of Jingū Taima distributed are continuing to fall, and a naive calculation suggests that the fall is accelerating. (One sixteenth of the fall over the last 32 years happened last year.)
Jinja Honchō and Isë Jingū are not going to let up on this, because Jingū Taima are the main source of income for both institutions. There are stories of priests making the offering for Jingū Taima themselves so that their numbers do not fall, which I suspect is the reality behind the comment on sacrifices.
So, what can be done about the problem? It is obvious that the programs that have been in place over the last thirty years have not worked, or at least have not worked enough. On the other hand, just shy of eight million a year is still a fantastically high number — more than the top-selling book or record (back in the days when people bought records) — which means that increasing it almost certainly requires something equivalent to saturation advertising, or an incredibly effective viral “marketing” campaign. So far, the plans seem to have boiled down to “Tell people that they should have a Jingū Taima. Tell them harder!”, and that sort of approach never works in the face of a generational shift.
I think the numbers suggest that a fundamental rethink is needed here, but I am not seeing any signs of that happening.
Obviously a fall in distribution is inevitable with a fall in population but I don’t really see youngsters getting *more* on board so maybe time for the organization as a whole to think about new ways to make money…
I can definitely say though that at both big and small shrines I’ve been to the signage and guidance for お守りand 御朱印 is way more noticable
Jingū Taima is normally one of the options at the omamori offering reception, but it is true that it is not normally pushed by most jinja. Of course, part of the reason for that is that you only need one per household, and in a lot of areas that one is delivered by the jinja sōdai, rather than picked up at the jinja by each ujiko.
I agree that Jinja Honchō needs to think about its fundamental structure, including financing, and there are quite a few voices within the organisation saying the same thing. Alas, quite a few of them seem to want to return to how things were in 1946 rather than adapt to the present day.