And their method, in which even commoners practiced self government, received recognition, and indeed it became all the more striking starting in the Edo period (beginning in that period, large cities were divided into machiba (towns, under the jurisdiction of town magistrates), niwaba (jisha-bugyo, under the jurisdiction of (government-appointed) temples and shrine administrators), and nochoba (unsurveyed areas or suburbs of unfixed jurisdiction), and so commoners and townspeople cooperated to achieve self-government); the people used festivals to enshrine gods, spirits, and elements of nature itself, including such festivals as Tanabata (the Festival of the Weaver, celebrated July 7) and the Feast for Ebisu, both of which are still celebrated today, eventually becoming established as popular versions of Shinto rituals quite separate in form from Shrine Shinto rituals, but in any case, shrines continue to contribute to local development, even as they did in the past.
そして民間でも自治としての政が江戸時代から一層顕著に認められ｛江戸時代以降の都心では町場（町奉行管轄）と庭場（寺社奉行管轄）と野帳場（検地がされていない管轄未定地や郊外）に区分され、庶民と町人が協力して自治を行った｝、祭りとして神や御霊や自然を祀り、その社会的行為は「七夕祭り」や「恵比寿講」として現在にも行われ、神社神道の儀式とは離れた民衆の神事として定着し、昔と同様に普請としての地域振興を担っている。