Originally, there were no private ownership of land among the Ainu. All the land of a community was held in common and might be used by each member for himself. When he found the suitable land for cultivation, he stuck a T-shaped post in the center of the land which expressed his intention of occupying it. This post is called kuitakpe. Kuitakpe means something which serves as a substitute to express a man's intention, so it is a kind of symbol or sign. There is no limitation as to material from which the kuitakpe might be made. Any kind of wood available will serve the purpose. Selecting two branches and cutting off their twigs, a crosspiece and a vertical piece are made with a hatchet, knife or sickle. One end of the vertical piece is sharpened and inserted in a slit made in the middle of the crosspice. The other end is also sharpened and stuck in the ground. The Kuitakpe is made into a T-shaped form so as to distinguish the artificial sign from natural trees. Perhaps, it may represnet the human body or it may be a kind of scarecrow, by which man expresses his intention as a substitute. The Kuitakpe whose crosspiece and vertical piece (the upper part only) are stripped of their bark are considered quite formal, because they become white when their bark is stripped off and catch the eye more easily. The size of the kuitakpe is not definite, but as it represents the human body there are naturally some limit, and ones which are too large or too small are not made. Generally the vertical piece is about 5 feet and the crosspiece about 2 feet in length. The kuitakpe which is used on the expected land for cultivation not only expresses the will to cultivate it, but asserts a preferential right to prohibit use by others. But, the kuitakpe is not always stuck on all land which is expected to be brought under cultivation. It is used only when good land is found, which will be cultivated by someone else if left alone. The kuitakpe is used, however not only for occupancy of the land but for occupuncy of other things and is also used as a guide-post to indicate direction. Therefore it is considered that land occupancy by the kuitakpe depends on the native custom of the Ainu and not on institutions introduced with agriculture from abroad. Perhaps, it was not necessary to struggle for occupancy in an age when the population was small and land was abundant. Soit is supporsed that the custom of sticking the kuitakpe on the expected land for cultivation is not from old times but of comparatively late date in origination.

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There are two kinds of Miko-woman in the Shonai district. One is Kami-miko-a virgin in the service of a shrine, who participates in the public shrine festival of a village. The other is Machi-miko-a medium who practises necromancy. The formar have decreased in numbers since the old days, and are still diminishing. The latter are also on the decrease year after year, but, by computation there still ramain nearly 50. Most of the mediums are blind, and they offer prayers for the gods whom they want to ask for advice or prophecies before they call upon the departed spirits to hear their messages. This prayer offering is called Kami-asobase-(lit. "amusement for the gods"). In this case the medium is not the transmitter of an oracl but the intermediater whom the gods enter and through whom they announces their intentions by means of her mouth. The procedure of amusing the gods is as follows : first chanting of the prajna-paramita-hrdaya-sutra (a Buddhist scripture) and the Misogi-no-norito-(a prayer for purifying a body from impurities) then calling on Buddha and the gods which are well known in this district and the gods enshrined in the Grand Shrines of Japan, then reciting of the Rokkonshojo-purification from the six roots of evil, namely eye, ear, nose tongue, feeling and thiking, and then chanting nearly ten kinds of sacred music and dance to the tinkling of a bell, the melody of which is like that of Oiuake-a horse drivers's song. When these songs are finished, the gods descend saying, "we are delighted with the pleasant dances, the god of so-and-so is coming" and then she begins to speak or prophecy. If the medium wants to call the departed spirits, it is unnecessary for her to pray Sange-no-mon (words of confession and penitence) and Enmei jikku kanon-kyo (a ten line sutra of avalokitesvara for the long life) in reading her services. When the mountainneering ascetic prays he follows almost the same prosedure, but unlike the shamantic character of the medium who lends her body to the gods that the departed spirit or living spirit might make their intentions known, he possesses merely the character of a exorciser who may celebrate a mass for the repose of such souls. There is the Okonai-gami in Shonai, which has a close connection with the medium and is worshiped by the old families of this district. In Autumn before the rice harvest season, the housewives of the entire family assemble and pay homage to this god, and invite the holy maid to listen to the oracle of the gods after the rite of Okoromogae-changing of clothes. This god may be compared with Osiragami in Iwate prefecture and Mayuko-gami in Akita prefecture. The worship of this god seems to have been practised by mountaineering acsetics, but at present it is done only by mediums. Apart from the reasons given for their taking the place of ascetics, some have become shinto priests. some bonzes, and others have turened farmers. Though they once numbered more than 1000, at present the remaining ascetics are fewer in number than the mediums. What we must take notice of is that the people in Shonai still possess a belief, which provides support for the mediums, that housewives must call upon the mediums to practise spiritualism once a year.

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