This number has dwindled considerably in the last decade or so. Nowadays, there are still around 3-5000people in attendance. One of the women in the class mentioned tonight, too, that foxes are one of the animals used as “gatekeepers” for shrines. I know these as “Sheisa” – they originated in Okinawa… and they are statues of lions (although they look more like dogs to me… which I guess can also be used for the same purpose!). With Sheisa, there are two statues, one on either side of the tori (shrine entrance… kind of thing). One has its mouth open – to let out evil and the other has its mouth closed, to keep in the good. Lions, dogs and foxes, especially the rare White Foxes, are revered.