Makurazaki Jinja was the topic of an article in the October 12th issue of Jinja Shinpō. The jinja is located in Makurazaki City, in southern Kyushu, and it is one of the jinja being specifically supported in Jinja Honchō’s program for jinja in depopulated areas. It seems to have been particularly effective in this jinja’s case.
It was designated in 2024, and since then, according to the article, the jinja and its ujiko, and the prefectural Young Priests’ Association, have been working really hard. There seem to have been two main programs.
First, the jinja sanctuary was a simple, and very small, structure built soon after the war because the previous structure had collapsed. Motivated by the designation, and by the fact that the structure was pushing eighty years old and showing it, the local people decided to rebuild. A committee was formed in November last year, and on November 12th the goshintai, the object housing the kami, was moved out of the sanctuary and into temporary accommodation in a local community centre.
The new sanctuary was completed by April this year, and so another ceremony was performed on the 23rd to move the kami into their new home.
As you can see by comparing the two videos, the new sanctuary is a lot nicer than the old one. This process was very fast by the normal standards of jinja rebuilding, and the article mentions that fundraising went well. It seems that local people were very motivated to make this work.
These videos also show the other main activity. The jinja recruited elementary and junior-high girls from the local area, and taught them Urayasu-no-Mai so that they could perform at the ceremonies. There is another video about the process of teaching them, and their activities over the year.
The immediate trigger for the article was the final matsuri in the previous video, the Sixth Month Lanterns matsuri, held on July 23rd this year. (That’s in the sixth month of the old lunisolar calendar.)
Although the “Makumiko Diary” finishes with “Last Day”, one of the girls’ mothers is quoted in the article saying that she hopes her daughter will offer sacred dance at a lot more matsuri, so maybe it was not quite the last day.
This looks like a very successful program to revitalise the jinja. It has a new sanctuary, and a lot of local people are aware and involved. I hope that it continues and develops.