Suwa-taisha

, historically also known as Suwa Shrine (諏訪神社 ''Suwa-jinja'') or , is a group of Shinto shrines in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The shrine complex is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Shinano Province and is considered to be one of the oldest shrines in existence, being implied by the ''Nihon Shoki'' to already stand in the late 7th century.

Overview

The entire Suwa shrine complex consists of four main shrines grouped into two sites: the Upper Shrine or ''Kamisha'' (上社), comprising the and the , and the Lower Shrine or ''Shimosha'' (下社), comprising the ''Harumiya'' (春宮, spring shrine) and the ''Akimiya'' (秋宮, autumn shrine). The Upper Shrine is located on the south side of Lake Suwa, in the cities of Chino and Suwa, while the Lower Shrine is on the northern side of the lake, in the town of Shimosuwa.

In addition to these four main shrines, some sixty other auxiliary shrines scattered throughout the Lake Suwa area (ranging from miniature stone structures to medium to large sized edifices and compounds) are also part of the shrine complex. These are the focus of certain rituals in the shrine's religious calendar.

Historically, the Upper and the Lower Shrines have been two separate entities, each with its own set of shrines and religious ceremonies. The existence of two main sites, each one having a system parallel to but completely different from the other, complicates a study of the Suwa belief system as a whole. One circumstance that simplifies the matter somewhat, however, is that very little documentation for the Lower Shrine has been preserved; almost all extant historical and ritual documents regarding Suwa Shrine extant today are those of the Upper Shrine.

Deities

The Upper and Lower Shrines of Suwa were historically associated with a male and female ''kami'', respectively. The god of the Upper Shrine, named Takeminakata in the imperially-commissioned official histories, is also often popularly referred to as 'Suwa Myōjin' (諏訪明神), 'Suwa Daimyōjin' (諏訪大明神), or 'Suwa-no-Ōkami' (諏訪大神, 'Great ''Kami'' of Suwa'). The goddess of the Lower Shrine, held to be Takeminakata's consort, is given the name Yasakatome in these texts.

While both the ''Kojiki'' (ca. 712 CE) and the ''Sendai Kuji Hongi'' (807-936 CE) portray Takeminakata as a son of Ōkuninushi, the god of Izumo Province, who fled to Suwa after his shameful defeat in the hands of the warrior god Takemikazuchi, who was sent by the gods of heaven to demand that his father relinquish his rule over the terrestrial realm,Chamberlain, Basil (trans.) (1882)
Section XXXII.—Abdication of the Deity Master-of-the-Great-Land.
''A translation of the "Ko-ji-ki" or Records of Ancient Matters.'' Yokohama: Lane, Crawford & Co. other myths and legends depict the Suwa deity differently. In one story, for instance, the god of the Upper Shrine is an interloper who conquered the region by defeating various local deities who resisted him such as the god Moriya (Moreya).Moriya, Sanae (1991). ''Moriya-jinchō-ke no ohanashi'' (守矢神長家のお話し). In Jinchōkan Moriya Historical Museum (Ed.). ''Jinchōkan Moriya Shiryōkan no shiori'' (神長官守矢資料館のしおり) (Rev. ed.). pp. 2–3. In a feudal Buddhist legend, this god is identified as a king from India whose feats included quelling a rebellion in his kingdom and defeating a dragon in Persia before manifesting in Japan as a native ''kami''. In another feudal folk story, the god is said to have originally been a warrior named Kōga Saburō who returned from a journey into the underworld only to find himself transformed into a serpent or dragon. A fourth myth portrays the Suwa deity appointing an eight-year-old boy to become his priest and physical 'body'; the boy eventually became the founder of the Upper Shrine's high priestly lineage.

Both Takeminakata and Yasakatome are now worshiped together in the Upper and Lower Shrines, with the god Kotoshironushi (another son of Ōkuninushi and Takeminakata's brother) being enshrined alongside them in the Lower Shrine as an auxiliary deity.

*''Kamisha Honmiya'': Takeminakata
*''Kamisha Maemiya'': Yasakatome
*''Shimosha Harumiya'', ''Shimosha Akimiya'': Takeminakata, Yasakatome, Kotoshironushi

Like others among Japan's oldest shrines, three of Suwa Shrine's four main sites - the ''Kamisha Honmiya'' and the two main shrines of the ''Shimosha'' - do not have a ''honden'', the building that normally enshrines a shrine's ''kami''. Instead, the Upper Shrine's objects of worship were the sacred mountain behind the ''Kamisha Honmiya'', a sacred rock (磐座 ''iwakura'') upon which Suwa Myōjin was thought to descend, and the shrine's former high priest or ''Ōhōri'', who was considered to be the physical incarnation of the god himself. This was later joined by Buddhist structures (removed or demolished during the Meiji period) which were also revered as symbols of the deity.

The Lower Shrine, meanwhile, has sacred trees for its ''go-shintai'': a ''sugi'' tree in the ''Harumiya'', and a yew tree in the ''Akimiya''.

History

Early history

Upper Shrine

The origins of the Upper and Lower Shrines of Suwa are shrouded in mystery. The ''Nihon Shoki'' (720 CE) refers to envoys sent to worship "the wind-gods of Tatsuta and the gods of Suwa and Minochi in Shinano rovince during the fifth year of the reign of Empress Jitō (691 CE), which suggests that a notable ''kami'' in Suwa was already being worshiped by the imperial (Yamato) court as a water and/or wind deity during the late 7th century, on par with the wind gods of Tatsuta Shrine in Yamato Province (modern Nara Prefecture).

Fune Kofun, a burial mound dating from the early 5th century discovered near the ''Kamisha Honmiya'' in 1959, yielded a number of important artifacts, among them weapons and implements of a ritual nature such as two ''dakōken'' ( 蛇行剣, a wave-bladed ceremonial sword). The tomb's location and the nature of the grave goods suggest that the individuals buried therein were important personages perhaps connected in some way to what would become the Upper Shrine. The presence of the snake-like ''dakōken'' and other items made of deer antlers have been connected to the identification of the Upper Shrine's god as a serpent in folk beliefs and the prominence of hunting animals such as deer in the shrine's rituals.Oh (2011). pp. 160-163.

Local historians have seen the legend that speaks of the Upper Shrine's deity as an intruding conqueror who wrested control of the Lake Suwa region from the native god Moriya (Moreya) to reflect the subjugation of local clans who controlled the area by invaders allied with the Yamato state - identified as the founders of the Upper Shrine's high priestly (大祝 ''Ōhōri'') house - around the late 6th/early 7th centuries, with the appearance of burial mounds markedly different from the type exemplified by Fune Kofun heretofore common in the region around this time period being taken as the signs of Yamato expansion into Suwa,Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). "Suwa-jinja Kamisha Shimosha (諏訪神社上社・下社)". p. 686. though this idea has been called into question in recent years due to the myth's late (medieval) attestation and its similarity to stories concerning the conflict between Prince Shōtoku and Mononobe no Moriya that were in wide circulation during the Middle Ages.

'Takeminakata', the name by which the deity of the Upper Shrine is more commonly known to the imperial court, appears in the historical record for the first time in the ''Kojiki'''s (711-712 CE) ''kuni-yuzuri'' myth cycle. Although the work associates Takeminakata with the province of Izumo and its deity Ōkuninushi, references to such a deity are curiously absent from the ''Nihon Shoki'' or other sources dealing with the province. Takeminakata is thus believed by a number of scholars to have been interpolated by the ''Kojiki'''s compilers into a myth which did not originally feature him.Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). pp. 687–689.Oh (2011). pp. 157-158.

The earliest surviving literary references to a shrine in Suwa dedicated to Takeminakata are in the ''Shinshō Kyakuchoku Fushō'' ( 新抄格勅符抄 'New Extracts from Decrees and Edicts', 806 CE), which speaks of "Takeminakatatomi-no-Mikoto-no-Kami" being given land grants by the court, and the ''Sendai Kuji Hongi'', commonly dated to the 9th-10th century, which explicitly refers to Takeminakata as being enshrined in "Suwa Shrine in the district of Suwa in Shinano Province" (信濃国諏方郡諏方神社).

The national histories record Takeminakata's exceptionally rapid rise in importance: from rankless (无位), the imperial court steadily promoted the deity to increasingly higher ranks within the space of twenty-five years, beginning with junior fifth, upper grade (従五位上) in 842 CE. By 867 CE, 'Takeminakatatomi-no-Mikoto' is recorded in the ''Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku'' as being elevated to the rank of junior first (従一位).

Lower Shrine

One theory suggests that the cult of the Lower Shrine may have originated from the worship of the ''kami'' of the nearby mountains and rivers. The ''Harumiya'', one of the Lower Shrine's two component shrines, is located beside the Togawa River, which flows from the Yashimagahara Wetlands northwest of Kirigamine Plateau, where Moto-Misayama (旧御射山), the former sacred hunting grounds of the Lower Shrine, is situated.Terada; Washio (2010). pp. 69-70.

The Lower Shrine is also associated with a clan known as the Kanasashi (金刺, also read as 'Kanesashi' or 'Kanazashi'), the offshoot of a local magnate clan (''kuni no miyatsuko'') which eventually became the shrine's high priests. The Kanasashi are thought to have been originally district magistrates (郡領 ''gunryō'') in charge of producing and collecting taxed goods and laborers to be sent to the central government in Yamato Province.Grumbach (2005). p. 157. Their seat of power seems to have been located near what is now the Lower Shrine, which was close to the important crossroads that led to the capital. Indeed, the ''Shimosha Akimiya'' may have started as a kind of ancestral shrine to the clan's forebears; it is located nearby Aozuka Kofun, a burial mound notable for being the only keyhole tomb in the Lake Suwa region and which may have been the grave of a Kanasashi clan member.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 12-13.

The ''Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku'' mentions a Kanasashi, Sadanaga (貞長), receiving the ''kabane'' '' Ōason'' (大朝臣) in the year 863. A genealogy of the Lower Shrine's high priestly line records an elder brother of his, Masanaga (正長), who in addition to being the district governor (大領 ''dairyō'') of Hanishina District, also held the title of ''Megamihōri'' (売神祝) or 'priest of the goddess'. The same title appears in a seal in the Lower Shrine's possession (designed as an Important Cultural Property in 1934) traditionally said to have been bequeathed by the Emperor Heizei (reigned 806-809). This shows that the shrine's deity - named 'Yasakatome' in imperial records - is already conceived of as a goddess in the 9th century.

As Takeminakata, the Upper Shrine's god, rose up in rank, so did Yasakatome, so that by 867 CE, the goddess had been promoted to senior second rank (正二位).

Heian and Kamakura periods

By the late Heian period, Suwa became considered as Shinano Province's chief shrine or ''ichinomiya''.Tanigawa (1987). p. 130. with literary mentions attesting to its status. The 'Register of Deities' (神名帳 ''Jinmyōchō'') section of the ''Engishiki'' (927 CE) lists the 'Minakatatomi Shrines' (南方刀美神社) as the two major ('eminent') shrines of Suwa district. 'Suwa Shrine of Shinano' is mentioned briefly in Minamoto no Tsuneyori (976/985-1039) diary, the ''Sakeiki'' ( 左経記) as the representative shrine for Shinano Province when Emperor Go-Ichijō sent an envoy to shrines in every province in the country in 1017 CE.

It was probably around this time that the ''kami'' of Suwa began to be conceived of as a warrior deity. A famous legend relates that the Suwa deity appeared to the 8th century general Sakanoue no Tamuramaro during his campaign to subjugate the Emishi of northeastern Japan; in thanksgiving for the god's assistance, Tamuramaro was said to have petitioned the court for the institution of the shrine's religious festivals. The '' Ryōjin Hishō'', an anthology of songs compiled in 1179, names the shrine of Suwa among famous shrines to martial deities in the eastern half of the country.

As Buddhism began to penetrate Suwa and syncretize with local beliefs, the deities of the Upper and Lower Shrines came to be identified with the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra (Fugen) and Avalokiteśvara (Kannon), respectively.Inoue (2003). p. 350. Buddhist temples and other edifices (most of which belonged to the esoteric Shingon school) were erected on the precincts of both shrines, such as a sanctuary to Samantabhadra known as the ''Fugen-dō'' (普賢堂) and a stone pagoda symbolizing the legendary iron tower in India where, according to Shingon tradition, Nagarjuna was said to have received esoteric teachings from Vajrasattva (considered to be an aspect of Samantabhadra) called the ''Tettō'' (鉄塔 "iron tower"). For a long time, these two structures were considered as the Upper Shrine's objects of worship. As Buddhist ethics, which opposed the taking of life and Mahayana's strict views on vegetarianism somewhat conflicted with Suwa Myōjin's status as a god of hunting, the Suwa cult devised elaborate theories that legitimized the hunting, eating, and sacrifice of animals such as deer (a beast sacred to the god) within a Buddhist framework. The shrines produced special talismans (鹿食免 ''kajikimen'' "permit to eat venison") and chopsticks (鹿食箸 ''kajikibashi'') that were held to allow the bearer to eat meat.Inoue (2003). p. 352.

The prominence of hunting in the shrine's religious rites undoubtedly caught the attention of the samurai class.Grumbach (2005). p. 176. Devotion to the deity of Suwa (especially as god of war) became more widespread thanks in part to the rise of the Upper Shrine's high priestly family - now calling themselves the Jin/Miwa (神) or the Suwa (諏訪) - as vassals (''gokenin'') of the Kamakura shogunate and the Hōjō clan. The shrines of Suwa and the priestly clans thereof flourished under the patronage of the Hōjō, which promoted devotion to the god as a sign of loyalty to the shogunate. The religious festivals of the Upper and Lower Shrines attracted many of the samurai caste as well as other social classes, both from within Shinano and outside.Yazaki (1986). p. 25. The Hōjō appointed local land managers (''jitō'') and retainers, who were sometimes Hōjō family members, as sponsors (御頭 ''otō'' or ''ontō'') of the festivals, which helped provide financial support for the shrines. To offset the burden of this service, these sponsors enjoyed a number of benefits such as exemption from certain provincial taxes and the right to be pardoned for crimes during their year of service as ''otō''.

Around this time, Suwa branch shrines became numerous all across Japan, especially in territories held by clans devoted to the god (for instance, the Kantō region, traditional stronghold of the Minamoto (Seiwa Genji) clan). A number of factors were instrumental for this spread of the Suwa Myōjin cult. First, warriors from Shinano Province who were rewarded lands in the western provinces by the shogunate in the aftermath of the Jōkyū War of 1221 took the Suwa cult with them. Second, the shogunate appointed major non-Shinano vassals to manors in the province, who then acted as sponsors and participants in the shrine rituals, eventually installing the cult in their native areas. A third factor was the exemption granted to the shrines of Suwa from the ban on falconry (''takagari'') - a favorite sport of the upper classes - imposed by the shogunate in 1212, due to the importance of hunting in its rites. As a loophole to this ban, the ''gokenin'' built Suwa branch shrines in their own provinces where 'Suwa style' falconry could be performed, ostensibly to collect offerings for the shrine. The Suwa cult was also propagated by wandering preachers (御師 ''oshi'') who traveled around Shinano and neighboring provinces, preaching stories about the Suwa deity as well as distributing ''kajikimen'' and ''kajikibashi'' to the populace, collecting offerings and donations in exchange.

Muromachi and Sengoku periods

The shrines suffered a heavy setback at the downfall of the Hōjō and the collapse of the shogunate in 1333. Testifying to the close connections between the warrior families of the Suwa region and the Hōjō is the fact that many members of the Suwa clan present in Kamakura during the siege of the city in 1333 committed suicide alongside Hōjō Takatoki.Kanai (1982). p. 14

Takatoki's son, the young Tokiyuki, sought refuge in Shinano with Suwa Yorishige (諏訪頼重, not to be confused with the Sengoku period ''daimyō'' of the same name) and his son and then-''Ōhōri'', Tokitsugu (時継).Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 814. In July–August 1335, the Suwa and other clans who remained loyal to the Hōjō, led by Tokiyuki, instigated an unsuccessful armed rebellion with the intention of reestablishing the Kamakura shogunate, which ended with the defeat of Tokiyuki's forces and Yorishige, Tokitsugu and some others committing suicide. Tokitsugu's son who inherited the priesthood, Yoritsugu (頼継), was stripped from his position and replaced by Fujisawa Masayori (藤沢政頼), who hailed from a cadet branch of the clan. Now declared an enemy of the imperial throne, Yoritsugu went into hiding.

It is believed that the story of Kōga Saburō, which portrays Suwa Myōjin as a warrior hero and a hunter, originated in the aftermath of the shogunate's collapse and the Suwa ''Ōhōri'''s status becoming diminished as a result. Whereas formerly, the Suwa clan relied on the doctrine of the Upper Shrine's high priest being a god in the flesh to exert authority over its warrior devotees (Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1186 reprimanded subordinates for not obeying the ''Ōhōri'', declaring that his words are those of the god of Suwa himself), with the loss of official backing the Suwa shrine network became decentralized. Warriors who were devoted to the Suwa cult sought for stories (''setsuwa'') about the deity that did not involve the ''Ōhōri'' or the Suwa clan, leading to the rise of localized ''setsuwa'' such as the Kōga Saburō legend.

Suwa (or Kosaka) Enchū, government official and member of a cadet branch of the Suwa, took it upon himself to revive the former status of Suwa Shrine. To this end, he commissioned a set of ten illustrated scrolls (later expanded to twelve) showcasing the shrine's history and its various religious ceremonies, which was completed in 1356. The actual scrolls were later lost, but its text portions were copied and widely circulated, becoming known as the '' Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba''.

By the 14th century, the high priestly houses of the Upper and Lower Shrines, the Suwa and the Kanasashi were at war with each other and, in the Suwa's case, among themselves. During the Nanboku-chō period, the Suwa supported the Southern Court, while the Kanasashi chose to side with the Northern Court. This and other reasons contributed to the state of war between the two families, as well as other clans allied with them, during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods. During a battle between the two factions in 1483, the Lower Shrines were burned down by the Upper Shrine's forces; its high priest, Kanasashi Okiharu (金刺興春), was killed in battle.

In 1535, Takeda Nobutora of Kai Province, who fought against the Suwa clan a number of times, had a truce with clan leader Suwa Yorishige and sent his daughter Nene off to him as his wife. His clan, the Takeda