The hatsumōdë survey published in the March 9th issue of Jinja Shinpō also covered several aspects of the digital transformation. Social media, AI, and cashless payments were picked out as major issues, and there seem to have been a lot of responses.
The attitude to social media is broadly positive, and a lot of priests are seeing good results from putting photographs of their jinja on Facebook or Instagram. They also mentioned that if you put information about events and such online, people, particularly young people, find it there, and not only do they come, but you do not have to deal with so many phone enquiries. One priest pointed out that if you add information about a jinja to Google Maps, even small ones up in the mountains get visitors. Several priests mentioned that if you go beyond simple information, people have the chance to understand what a priest’s life is like.
On the other hand, there were also the standard concerns: the need to blur faces and number plates, the problem of fake accounts (I’m guessing that’s a famous jinja), and the problem of people posting false information or telling people (wrongly) what they must or mustn’t do at a jinja. There were also complaints that “other jinja” were letting the social media tail wag the jinja dog, or posting about disputes within the jinja, or pointing the camera towards the main sanctuary and photographing matsuri, or wearing the wrong colour hakama for their rank. (Shocking!)
Of course, not all priests use social media, whether because none of the ujiko are online, or because they don’t enjoy doing that sort of thing. And that really ought to be fine.
Attitudes to AI were clearly divided. Few priests are using it so far, which does not surprise me in the slightest, but some use it to design images for leaflets or write drafts of publicity materials, or even design goshuin. On the other hand, the standard worries about hallucinations, and complaints that AI got multiple jinja with the same (or similar) names mixed up, were also common. There were concerns about what AI might be used for, with opposition to using it to write thank you letters to supporters. There was strong opposition to using AI to write norito, and I would expect that opposition to persist. A couple of priests wrote about talking to AI about their own jinja until the AI got it right. I fear they may be a little naive about how LLMs learn…
Cashless offerings are, as one might have expected, spreading, largely under pressure of necessity. However, there is still opposition, both on theological grounds (actually throwing money into the box is a form of purification), and for practical reasons (small jinja cannot afford to pay the base fees to get set up, for example). The content of the debate does not seem to have changed, but we are definitely moving into a situation where many jinja are using cashless methods, and it will not matter what Jinja Honchō or anyone else says about the theology.
In short, these issues are developing in line with past reports. Social media is the best established, and a clear consensus is developing that it can be used well, and on how to do that. AI is only just beginning to be noticed. Cashless systems are still controversial, but inexorably spreading. I think the central authorities may have missed their chance to guide cashless use, but if they move quickly, there is still time to say something about AI.
Do I think they will move quickly? Shush.
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Thank you!