UJIKO SODAI

Parishioner representatives; members of the local community who took special responsibility for the upkeep or management of a shrine and 'represented' parishioners from whom they collected donations for the upkeep of the shrine and its festivals. The official ujiko-sodai system was abolished bySCAPafter 1945 but a similar system continues to operate informally assodai-kaiand through the local 'worshippers associations',sukei-kaiand other names.