Abstract
In this paper, we discuss the system of religious ritual in the relation between animals and man. Eating animals means to kill them. People go on killing animals for the sake of life. In the mountainous region, people maintain close relations with animals even in the present days. They depend on hunting animals for most of their food in ancient times. In this article, we bring out "the ritual of Shiromi shinto shrine" that is considered as "victim ritual". This ritual was formed and has been handed down in Miyazaki Prefecture Saito City in the deep and steep mountainous region. It is the religious ritual system that shows the way of living within a community. The death of animals means that animals dedicated themselves to people's life. So they have a deep sense of gratitude for the victim of animals. For the above people are deifying animals. In divine's presence, people are required to behave lovely and show a clean behavior towards animals. On the other hand, the process is about hunting and eating animals; "to rear-to kill-to dismantle-to cook-to share-to serve to the animal's soul". In divine's presence, people behave good enough in order to make public their "food activity's process". It is done by preventing evil. And thus people's behavior includes "pureness". On top of that, their behavior is closely tied to the order of the ritual. After this stage, "the soul of the animals", "the animals to eat", "the behavior of people" were purified. Furthermore, in this occasion, the religious world appears that includes the relation among "soul of animals", "behavior of people", "the divine". For the above reasons, "victim ritual" is considered a socioeconomic system that integrates communities.
