Chages since the Meiji period at Hiyoshi-taisha shrine in biological resources used for shinsen offerings, and outside offering agents

Abstract

Shinsen are offerings offered at Shinto shrines on the occasion of festivals. We compared shinsen offerings made at Hiyoshi-taisha in Shiga prefecture in the Meiji period and in the present from three angles: biological resources, stipulations on shinsen offerings, and outside agents making offerings. For one selected year in the early Meiji period and for the year 2010, we surveyed shinsen and investigated which biological resources were used. We compared the results and found two types of changes in the use of biological resources. Firstly, species of resources from water bodies, for example fishes and seaweeds, had decreased by 40%-70%. Secondly, changes had occurred in the use of vegetables and fruits. On the other hand, from 1873 to 1946, stipulations had regulated the number and combination of offerings according to the rank of a shrine and its festivals, while since 1946, only the kinds of dishes that could be offered was regulated. Not all changes in biological resources could be explained by stipulations, however. Regarding shinsen offerings offered by agents outside Hiyoshi-taisha such as community associations, our results showed little change since the Meiji period: records of methods of offering had been locally kept by these agents.