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their provinces, to make a tour for the purpose of worshipping at all the Shintô temples within their jurisdiction, compounded by worshipping only at the ichi no miya, if there happened to be one at the provincial capital, or built a new temple to which they gave the name of ‘general temple.’ Another suggestion is that it was at the ichi-no-miya that the governor began his round of worshipping, and that the name is derived from this circumstance. Kanetane, the editor of the Tamadasuki, quotes a passage from the Chôya Gunsai, which shows that the new governor had to perform these religious rites before entering upon his administrative duties.
Amongst the ancient Shintô practices which have descended to the present day is that of presenting new-born infants to the local deity, in order to place them under his action. This god is commonly called the uji-gami, (family god) and the inhabitants of the district over which he is supposed to extend his favours stand to him in the relation of uji-ko, or children of the family. In Satsuma, Akita and in some other provinces it is also the custom before starting on a journey to proceed to the temple of this god, and to beseech his protection until the person shall return home again. The priest gives him a paper charm to protect him from harm on the road, and he procures also a little sand from the site of the temple, to be mixed in small quantities with water and drunk whenever he feels uncomfortable during the journey. Whatever remains of this sand has to be returned to the temple when the traveller reaches home again, and he has of course to give thanks for the protection which he has enjoyed.
The local deity ought correctly to be called Ubu-suna no kami, the god of the native earth (or sand), and this term is found in ancient writings. Uji-gami should only be applied to the common ancestor of a number of persons who bear the same family name, or if not to an ancestor, to some one who has merited equivalent honours by acquiring a title to their gratitude. The word uji being originally the same as uchi, within, ujigami must mean
