The answer depends on what “member” means. In Japan, a shrine’s ujiko and a temple’s danka are both different from members of an ordinary club. More importantly, the relationships themselves are formed in very different ways.
At a shrine, ujiko are basically the people who live in the area for which that shrine serves as the local ujigami shrine. Rather than formally applying to become ujiko as an act of religious belief, the relationship is closely tied to simply living in that area.
Because of this, in some communities a person may find themselves treated as ujiko without ever consciously “joining” anything. Someone moves into the area and starts helping with shrine cleanups or cutting grass as part of getting involved in the neighborhood. Before long, notices about festivals and other events may arrive, and residents may also be asked to help with the upkeep or repair of the shrine. There may be no memorable membership procedure at all; the relationship develops naturally through living in the community.
Taking part in festivals, cleaning the shrine grounds, or helping with shrine activities is therefore better understood as putting that local relationship into practice than as fulfilling conditions for becoming ujiko. Strong personal belief in Shinto is not necessarily required to take part in these community activities. A foreign resident living in the same area and helping in the same way would not normally seem out of place simply because of their nationality.
Danka are quite different in this respect. Simply moving into a neighborhood does not mean that someone unknowingly becomes danka of a local temple. A danka relationship is a longer-term connection with a particular temple, often involving funerals, memorial services, and support for the temple. Someone wishing to become danka may need to speak with the priest and follow whatever procedures or fees that particular temple requires. At some temples, having a grave in the temple cemetery is connected with becoming danka, but this is not a universal requirement throughout Japan.
Helping with a temple cleanup or attending a local temple event is also separate from formally entering a danka relationship. Simply showing up at events held by a nearby temple does not make someone danka.
With ujiko, the relationship may begin through ordinary neighborhood life before a person ever thinks of themselves as having joined anything. Becoming danka, by contrast, involves a more deliberate relationship with a particular temple.
