The unit of belonging is the household, not the person. A house within the parish is an ujiko household and owes the shrine annual dues, labour on cleaning days, a contribution to festival costs, and the availability of a body to carry the mikoshi or cook for the crowd; the obligations are recorded and known. Nobody is asked what they believe. This is why national surveys report very low religious identification alongside near-universal participation — the survey asks about the individual and the practice is organised around the address. People who move away from a home town frequently keep paying their parents' parish dues, and people who move into a rural community and decline are noticed in a way that is not always comfortable. The system has weakened badly in cities, where apartment residents are often not enrolled at all and the shrine relies on passing visitors and paid rites instead.