On November 26, Hiroko Ishitoya, a former member of the Community Revitalization Cooperation Corps, performed her first job as a Shinto priest in Hirosaki City.

Mr. Ishitoya was born in Saitama Prefecture and worked as a regional revitalization cooperation team in Hirosaki City from November 2020 to May 2022. The purpose of moving to Hirosaki was to become a Shinto priest. In September, he became a Shinto priest and served as a ``Gonnegi'' of the Inari Shrine in the Higashimeya district of Hirosaki City at the ``Ninamesai'' celebration of the harvest of crops held on November 26th. He served as an exorcist (Haraenushi).

According to Mr. Ishitoya, he worked as an administrative scrivener in Saitama until he moved to Hirosaki, but rather than preparing documents, listening to people and becoming a consultant suited his personality. Ishitoya recalls, "When I traveled to Hirosaki for the first time in 2018 and visited Mt. “I have had spiritual experiences before, but when I came to Iwakiyama Shrine, I started thinking about a job that would allow me to act as an intermediary between God and people,” he said.

Ishitoya, who began looking for an opportunity to become a Shinto priest, moved to Hirosaki after having a hatsuyume in 2020. “At a time when I thought it would be difficult to find a training ground in Saitama. I started thinking about moving to Hirosaki City, where I was introduced to the mission of the Regional Revitalization Cooperation Volunteer to 'enliven the shrine,'” says Ishitoya.

The Regional Revitalization Volunteer is a system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, in which people move from urban areas to rural areas and carry out regional cooperation activities. There are currently 8 people in Hirosaki City, and about 6,000 people nationwide. In 2020, Hirosaki City was recruiting community revitalization volunteers for a revitalization project centered on Taga Shrine in the Higashimeya district of Hirosaki City. Ishitoya says, "I'm not a Shinto priest, but I was close to Iwakiyama Shrine, so I immediately decided that there might be an opportunity to become one."

During his term, he was energetically active in activities such as neighborhood association activities in the Higashimeya district and apple PR, but suddenly decided to resign. “Right after I decided to retire, I received an offer from the chief priest of Inari Shrine that I could participate in the training. “With the support of the town council in the Higashimeya district, the chief priest of the Inari Shrine decided to take care of me, and I also received a recommendation from the Aomori Prefectural Shrine Agency, which led to a training opportunity.”

After 49 days of night training, my current rank is "Chokai". He belonged to Inari Shrine as a Shinto priest apprentice 'shusshi', but in November he became 'Gonnegi' and got the opportunity to be 'exorcist'. Ishitoya said with a smile, "Although I was nervous, I'm beginning to realize that I was able to become a Shinto priest."

“My next goal is to raise the rank in order to acquire deeper knowledge and manners,” says Ishitoya. "There are many shrines in Aomori, and many of them are suffering from an aging population and a shortage of people to carry on their duties. Some shrines are already poorly managed, and I hope to protect them by becoming a chief priest," he said.

“Sometimes I am consulted about problems in my home or community, and if something happens, I myself go to a shrine and draw an omikuji (omikuji) to make up my mind. I want to become a Shinto priest whom I can easily meet and who can cheer me up.”