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Mountains will have mountain gods, and rivers will have river gods. Gods reside in everything on the Earth. This book that you have in your hand, or a semiconductor that you may have picked up, is no exception.

But certain special gods have shrines dedicated to their worship. What's the difference between these gods and the other gods? There's nothing in particular; it's just a matter of a god being sufficiently popular or not.

Gods who provide blessings to humans are popular. There are also gods who will spread curses if they're not worshipped, and so by worshipping them one can escape misfortune, so they have popularity in a different sense.

Shrines exist for such gods. A shrine's existence is thus decided by popularity, which is entirely up to humans, but for gods, it doesn't matter to them in the least.

The reason for this is that a god's power is determined by the amount of faith humans have in them. For example, Inari Okami and Tenjin, who are very popular amongst people, have succeeded in gaining far greater power than they used to have when they were referred to as Ukanomitama-no-Kami or Sugawara-no-Michizane due to the great number of shrines built in their honor.

Conversely, as for what happens when people lose faith in gods, they will lose their powers, and once there is nobody who remembers them, they disappear from existence altogether: A god must work hard in gathering faith since their very existence is at stake.

"...Why does our shrine have so many youkai?"

"You probably need more visitors. Otherwise the gods won't have enough power to ward them off."

"But if there are youkai in the first place, no one will come. There's nothing that can be done about it."

"True. It appears to be a vicious cycle."

I think the shrine maiden Reimu - who doesn't do her job and comes to relax here all the time - is one of the problems. In the past, the shrine didn't have so few visitors, and youkai never approached it. It must say that the main cause is the current shrine maiden, Reimu.

I suppose it's beginning to bother her, as she said she's here to discuss ways to recollect faith.

"Well, even if we lose too much faith, it won't change my job of exterminating youkai, so it might not be a bad thing after all."

"You are mistaken, Reimu: A shrine losing faith can be fatal."

"I guess you're right, since I wouldn't get any offerings."

"No, no, it's not as simple as just that; saying that a god loses faith is like saying a god loses power, so if your shrine gets taken over by an evil spirit, it'll be harder to drive it out."

"Well, if you say so...but what should I do?"

"You can expel the youkai from the shrine as a last resort."

"Why would you start your suggestions with the last resort...? Oh, whatever. What other options are there?"

"One option is to choose a new god for your shrine to worship - give up on your current god and get a more popular god to come to your shrine, bringing its faith with it. When few are aware of your god's name, much less its blessings, it's no wonder you're losing faith like this."

"Enshrine a different god? ...Am I allowed to do that...?"

"There shouldn't be a problem. A Japanese god is known as a 'bunrei,' meaning 'divisible spirit'. Even if you split one into an endless number of parts, its power won't be affected. You can use that to bring another god's power directly to your shrine. The process of gaining a divisible spirit is called 'kanjou,' and it's something that happens frequently in the outside world."

"Hmm, a new god. That should be a nice change of pace, and it might even be fun. Maybe if I can get a god of sake to come, it might be easier to get faith since its blessings are so obvious."

"If that's what you want, it might be good to get gods like Asama-sama, otherwise called Konohana-no-Sakuyabime; she is usually a goddess of mountains, but she is one of sake as well. She's said to be a very beautiful goddess, and is very popular right now. To make it easier to notice, you might want to change the name of your shrine to Hakurei Asama Shrine."

"Hmm...I'm not really interested in changing the name..."

"Even if the god you worship changes, it'll have no meaning if people don't notice it, so normally names change with such events."

*Ring-a-ling.*

"Hey. It's the rainy season, but it's not rainin' today. Since it's so sunny, maybe we should start prayin' for rain."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Marisa - as usual."

"Whatcha talkin' about when it ain't even rainin'?"

"We were having a very important discussion about the shrine."

"'Bout the shrine? Did somethin' happen to that youkai shrine o'yours, Reimu?"

The shrine being called "that youkai shrine" itself is the problem.

"Well, there are too few visitors. And the only offerings I get are the leaves that the tanuki put in the box..."

"Oh, izzat it? Don't worry 'bout it. Most of those leaves are from me anyway."

"That's not what she's worried about. Reimu's problem isn't foolish pranks, but the fact that her shrine is losing faith because there are no visitors."

"Ya don't need the help of gods ta kill youkai. So wait, what good is the shrine then?"

Although I find repeating myself to be tiring, I reiterated the connection between the lack of faith and how it affects gods and shrines to Marisa.

"Gotcha. Yeah, that'd definitely be a pain if your shrine got taken over by some youkai. But there's a real easy way to get more people ta come if ya wanna know."

"What's that?"

"Have a huge festival and call it, like, the Hakurei Shrine Retaisai. If ya do somethin' like that, I'm sure you'd get everyone who loves festivals, right? And if ya still need more people, just have 'em every week. What the shrine is missin' is something that'll pull more people to it; if ya keep havin' dinky little parties all the time, no one's gonna bother comin' at all that way."

What Marisa says is true. Humans won't worship gods that won't benefit them; if the lives of the people become wealthier, then a shrine will not be needed. In hat case, events like that might be necessary to draw interest.

"Even if I do arrange a festival, I just know the only ones who will show up will be the youkai, and if there are youkai around, humans won't come."

"That's true, yeah...youkai love pretty much anythin' where they can cause a racket."

"That's why we were talking about having a kanjou."

"Huh? Kanjou? Whazzat?"

We explained to Marisa that a kanjou is the process of changing the god of worship at a shrine.

"Okay, but if ya do that, what'll happen to the god ya got now?"

"At first, I was going to worship them at the same time."

"Whaddaya mean by 'at first'?"

"I mean it'll vanish naturally if it's forgotten."

"What? It'll vanish?!" The summer scenery as seen from the window began to darken. There was still plenty of time until evening, so I guess rain is underway. A unique ability of the rainy season, it seems. "The god in your shrine will vanish? B-but...Reimu, are ya okay with that?"

"If the shrine itself will vanish if I do nothing, then I guess I have no other choice."

"By the way, who was the god of the Hakurei Shrine? An evil spirit? Or maybe not?"

"They say there aren't many records regarding the god of the Hakurei Shrine, and according to those same records, we did get taken over by an evil spirit in the past..."

If even the god's own shrine maiden can't remember its name, it's not surprising that it's losing faith. But I guess there's no helping it; in Gensokyo, gods exist everywhere in nature. A place like a shrine isn't necessary, since one can ask for a god's favor anywhere.

In Gensokyo, it is said that the only shrine is the Hakurei Shrine. Thus, it is a unique place, and many simply refer to it as "the shrine." Since there are no other shrines with which to compare it, it can easily be forgotten that a god is being enshrined there. So, as expected, the people of Gensokyo no longer see the value of a shrine.

"Well, the future of the shrine is something for you to decide, but there is one thing I can say. The Hakurei Shrine plays an important role in supporting the Border. Regardless of who the god is, that won't change."

"Well, the worst part is not knowing the blessings of the shrine."

"Is there even a blessin' at all? I didn't feel any different after those offerin's."

"That's because you won't be blessed for offering leaves. I guess we should worship a god who has a blessing. In that case, it might be Konohana-no-Sakuabime then."

Even if there are blessings of sake, I think the only people who'll be happy about it will be the people making the sake, and there are only a handful of those people.

"By the way, why do you get blessings from gods you worship? Doesn't that make gods no different from the youkai who loiter at the shrine?"

The store had become dark. It seemed to be raining outside. Marisa was uneasy, worried about the weather, but Reimu was thinking of nothing else but her question.

"You're a shrine maiden, but lack far too much knowledge; you don't even train because you dislike it. If you won't stop drinking sake all the time and don't train more often, you won't be able to save your shrine."

"Well I'm studying now, aren't I?"

"I suppose, but I'll tell you why you get blessings when you worship divine spirits."

"Sure, sure, go on."

"They say everything has a divine spirit within it, but strictly speaking, things without names are divine spirits themselves. These objects are then named based on one of the powers of the spirit."

"Now that you mention it, I think I've heard about that before."

"Maybe I have told you before myself; I think it was about the petrified bone? Anyway, a divine spirit is different from a youkai in that it has two personalities."

"Since youkai are simple and only have one personality, that makes them twice as different."

"The two personalities are the 'nigi' and the 'ara'. The 'nigi' is the side that shows its kindness to humans, and is the one called the blessing."

"What? Its personality is the blessing?"

"I told you that divine spirits are the origin of all, right? The divine spirit is the personality of an object. Thus, the emotions of an object are directly related to its ower, and becomes visible in matter. If a god of sake gained power, the sake would naturally become better. Also, the 'nigi' is further divided into two parts of its own called the 'saki' and the 'kushi'. The 'saki' provides fulfillment to the soul, and the 'kushi' provides knowledge. If I were to use the god of sake as an example again, the 'saki' improves the fragrance and taste of the sake, while the 'kushi' would improve the skills used to make sake."

"'Nigi,' 'saki,' 'kushi'...they're all good, aren't they? Maybe I should seriously have a kanjou for Konohana-no-Sakuyabime."

"Well, gods other than Konohana-no-Sakuyabime have personalities that are blessings too, but you mustn't forget their other personality, the 'ara'."

"Oh dear."

"The 'ara' is the wrath of the divine spirit, and is the part that manifests itself as disaster and misfortune. Using the god of sake as an example, the sake would not only taste bad, but could even turn into poison. Worse yet, you may never be able to make sake in the same place ever again."

"I don't like the sound of that. A lesson not to anger the gods, I guess. Do gods always have those two personalities?"

"There may be some differences, but they will always be there."

"Isn't there a god with only the gentle side?"

"Divine spirits - that is to say, all things in Gensokyo - have both a good side and a bad side. But the 'ara' personality isn't always bad."

"But it turns sake bad, right?"

"Well, the 'ara' is the true power of the divine spirits. By worshipping the 'ara' aspect, the worshipers will be given protection. For example, it can ward off enemies that try to interrupt the sake-making process. To put it simply, blessings are a combination of what comes from calming the 'ara', and from thanking the 'nigi' to increase a god's power."

"Hmm. People say that a dependable deity is one that goes around granting everyone's personal requests, but I guess that's not it at all. What youre saying is that the truth is that a god's increase in power is connected to its blessings."

"Well, yes, if you make the gods happy, people will receive blessings. It's different from making people happy by defeating youkai."

"Well, then, the shrine doesn't have to worry about that, then."

The window showed that it was completely dark and raining outside, as it should be in this season. Reimu and Marisa decided to stay for dinner.

Although it was not my intention, since we talked about sake so much, we decided to drink many different types of sake today.

"Hmm, maybe this sake is a blessing from Lady Asama, too."

"Then this sake must be one too!"

"The two of you have both had too much to drink."

"To Lady Asama! Cheers!"

The purpose of a shrine isn't necessarily for the humans who built it to hear requests; all the gods need to do is listen, and they gather faith - a very convenient situation. That's why people can give their puny offerings and ask anything they like of them. These divine spirits are just another kind of youkai who enjoy the relaxing life of Gensokyo.

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