The 8th July issue of Jinja Shinpō had an interesting historical article about the ways people made offerings to Jingū in the early sixteenth century. It was written by the head of Nagasaki Prefectural Jinjachō, based on surviving documents from what is now Okayama Prefecture.
These record 479 people who visited Jingū with a particular onshi (the priests who gathered adherents for Jingū and organised their visits), and give details of how they made their offerings. It seems that only 82 of them took cash to Isë and made their offering in person. Two hundred and sixteen sent the money in advance through a moneychanger at some place nearer home, paying a service charge, and received a bill to withdraw it in Isë, while 181 promised that they would send it through the moneychanger (with the service charge) after they got back home (and generally did).
The author observes that this was a time of civil war. Despite that, people were willing to trust non-cash methods of making offerings to Jingū, and it worked, because they shared reverence for the same kami. He emphasises the importance of trust in society, and lists the many places you can see the term in contemporary Japanese society.
His final paragraph takes up the current problem with cashless payments, and observes that, while there are differences in how the systems work, and problems with the current legal framework, the basic principles appear to be very similar. He urges the Shinto community to look at how people made the process work for Jingū five centuries ago, and find a way over the problems facing it now.
This is an important contribution to the debate for two reasons. The first is that it is from the head of a Prefectural Jinjachō, which means someone influential within the Shinto community. The second is that it decisively undermines any argument that making offerings on credit (of some sort) is an innovation, with no basis in Shinto tradition. It appears to be intended to shift the discussion from arguments about precedent to inquiries into the best way to integrate cashless payments into Shinto practice.
I hope it is successful.
Fascinating, thank you for sharing this! I’ll have to go read the digital version of the JS issue. I recently wrote a significant portion of a dissertation chapter on cashless/touchless offerings, especially during the height of COVID, and have been keeping a spreadsheet of shrines and temples who allow cashless offerings, what type, for what, and since when, so I’ll be glad to add a little more historical context! ♀️
I hope that spreadsheet is the basis of a publication at some point. I’d be very interested in the digested version.