Suwa Shrine (suwa jinja) is the major Shinto shrine of Nagasaki, Japan,
and home to the Nagasaki Kunchi (is believed to refer to September 9 in the
dialect of northern Kyushu). It is located in the northern part of the city,
on the slopes of Mount Tamazono-san, and features a 277-step stone staircase
leading up the mountain to the various buildings that comprise the shrine.
Suwa shrine was established as a way of stopping and reverting the conversion
to Christianity that was taking place in Nagasaki. In modern times it remains
an important and successful center of the community.
The shrine in Nagasaki is one of many Suwa shrines, all of which are dedicated
to Suwa-no-Kami, a kami of valor and duty, and are linked with Suwa Taisha,
the head shrine of Suwa-no-Kami worship. Two other kami spirits are also
enshrined at Suwa shrine, all three of which are celebrated during the Kunchi.
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Suwa Shrine Map.
Suwa Shrine survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.
It is thought to have survived intact due to its strategic location in
the central part of Mount Tamazono-san's southern flank, although in the
aftermath of the bomb local residents were quick to note that while the
famous Urakami Cathedral and surrounding Catholic neighborhoods were
obliterated, the Shinto shrine still stood.
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This was considered to be significant by the survivors of the bombing,
showing the power of the native Japanese kami as opposed to the
imported Christian god. In addition, priests from Suwa Shrine took an
active role in the rebuilding of Nagasaki, including consecrating the
land and purifying structures that still stood.
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Torii Gates.
Suwa Shrine has four torii gates before the guardian lions and
one more torii gate after the guardian lions.
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A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at
the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks
the transition from the mundane to the sacred.
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Guardian lion.
Komainu, often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of
lion-like creatures either guarding the entrance or the honden, or inner
shrine of many Japanese Shinto shrines or kept inside the inner shrine
itself, where they are not visible to the public. The first type, born
during the Edo period, is called
sandō komainu (lit. 'entrance-road Komainu'), the second and much
older type jinnai komainu (lit. 'komainu inside the shrine').
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Meant to ward off evil spirits, modern komainu statues usually are
almost identical, but one has the mouth open, the other closed
(however, exceptions exist, where both komainu have their mouth either
open or closed).
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The two forms are called a-gyō (lit. '"a" shape') and
un-gyō (lit. '"un" shape') or referred to collectively as
a-un.
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Stone staircase and main gate.
Suwa Shrine is located in the northern part of the city, on the slopes
of Mount Tamazono-san, and features a 277-step stone staircase leading
up the mountain to the various buildings that comprise the shrine.
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Mon (gate) is a generic Japanese term for gate often used, either
alone or as a suffix, in referring to the many gates used by Buddhist
temples, Shinto shrines and traditional-style buildings and castles.
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Unlike gates of secular buildings, most temple and shrine gates are
purely symbolic elements of liminality, as they cannot be completely
closed and just mark the transition between the mundane and the
sacred.In many cases, for example that of the sanmon, a temple
gate has purifying, cleansing properties.
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Sacred horse statue.
Shinme (or Jinme, sacred horse) is a term used to refer to a horse that
is dedicated to a Japanese shrine or one used in rites and festivals.
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There is no rule about the kinds of horses to be chosen, and they are
believed to be ridden by the gods (deities, spirits).
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Main hall.
The shrine in Nagasaki is one of many Suwa shrines, all of which are
dedicated to Suwa-no-Kami, a kami of valor and duty.
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Takeminakata, also known as Minakatatomi or Takeminakatatomi, is a
kami in Japanese mythology.
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Also known as Suwa Myōjin or Suwa Daimyōjin after Suwa Grand Shrine
(Suwa Taisha) in Nagano Prefecture (former Shinano Province) in
which he is enshrined alongside his consort Yasakatome.
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Takeminakata is historically worshiped as a god of wind, water and
agriculture, as well as a patron of hunting and warfare, in which
capacity he enjoyed a particularly fervent cult from various samurai
clans during the medieval period such as the Hōjō or the Takeda.
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Tamazono Inari Shrine.
Tamazono Inari is a small Inari shrine, which is located in the precinct
of Suwa Shrine. Unlike Suwa Shrine, which is always crowded with
visitors, the area of Tamazono Inari is very calm and refreshing.
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Inari Ōkami, also called Ō-Inari, is the Japanese kami of foxes,
fertility, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry, of general
prosperity and worldly success, and one of the principal kami of
Shinto.
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More than one-third (32,000) of the Shinto shrines in Japan are
dedicated to Inari.
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Inari's foxes, or kitsune, are pure white and act as their messengers.
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According to myth, Inari, as a goddess, was said to have come to Japan
at the time of its creation amidst a harsh famine that struck the
land. "She [Inari] descended from Heaven riding on a white fox, and in
her hand she carried sheaves of cereal or grain. Ine, the word now
used for rice, is the name for this cereal. What she carried was not
rice but some cereal that grows in swamps. According to legend, in the
ancient times Japan was water and swamp land."
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Frog rock to ward off misfortune.
A huge rock called "Frog Rock" is located in the precincts of Suwa
Shrine in Kami-Nishiyama-cho, Nagasaki City, and is a wish for the new
coronavirus disaster, disaster prevention, and business prosperity.
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See also
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