It is said that, up until the early Meiji period, some still practiced the custom of ehomairi; however, as each railway company in the Keihanshin region (namely, Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe) started to advertise the shrines and temples of their choice along their own railway lines, by saying that 'the eho for the year is XX,' people became to visit those in other than the actual eho direction which leads the meaning of eho fade away and people visit well-known shrines and temples.
明治時代初期までは恵方詣りの風習が残っていたようだが、京阪神において鉄道事業者が沿線の神社仏閣をてんでんばらばらに「今年の恵方は○○だ」と宣伝し始めたために、本来の恵方ではない神社仏閣にも詣でるようになり、恵方の意味が薄れ、有名な神社仏閣にお参りするようになったといわれている。