Kaijin matsuri

   Sea-kami festivals. A term used for the numerous festivals dedicated to the sea gods, umi-no-kami or kaijin. Kaijin is a collective term for a number of different kami, important to seafarers and fishermen and worshipped mainly in coastal areas around Japan, which form a large proportion of the habitable land. Until recently fishing was the occupation second only to agriculture in Japan and kaijin are very popular. They include the munakata female kami, various kami worshipped in the Sumiyoshi taisha and its numerous branch shrines, and the kami of the Kotohira-gu on Shikoku, i.e. Kompira dai-gongen.