Onbashira

What is known today as 'Suwa (Grand) Shrine', {{Nihongo|2=諏訪大社|3=Suwa Taisha}}, was originally two distinct sites made up of four individual shrines: the {{Nihongo|2=本宮|3=Honmiya}} and the {{Nihongo|2=前宮|3=Maemiya}} comprise the Upper Shrine {{Nihongo|2=上社|3=Kamisha}} located in the modern-day cities of Suwa and Chino on the southeastern side of Lake Suwa, respectively, while the {{Nihongo|spring shrine|春宮|Harumiya}} and {{Nihongo|autumn shrine|秋宮|Akimiya}} in the town of Shimosuwa on the opposite (northern) side of the lake make up the {{Nihongo|Lower Shrine|下社|Shimosha}}.{{cite web|title=Suwa-taisha (諏訪大社)|url=http://shimosuwaonsen.jp/tourism/%E8%AB%8F%E8%A8%AA%E5%A4%A7%E7%A4%BE/|website=長野県下諏訪町の観光情報}}Tanigawa, ed. (1987). p. 129.{{cite web|title=Shrines and Temples|url=http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/attractions/facilities/shrines_temples/83dn3a000000ehmf.html|work=Suwa-taisha shrine|publisher=Japan National Tourist Association|access-date=21 September 2010}}

File:諏訪大社 上社本宮 - panoramio.jpg]]

The shrine's deity, known either as Suwa Daimyōjin or Takeminakata, was worshipped since antiquity as a god of wind and water,Yazaki (1986). p. 22. as well as a patron of hunting and warfare.Yazaki (1986). p. 24. In this latter capacity, he enjoyed a particularly fervent cult from various samurai clans during the Middle Ages.Yazaki (1986). p. 25. The Upper Shrine is dedicated to Suwa Daimyōjin himself, while his consort, the goddess Yasakatome, is worshipped in the Lower Shrine.

Like others among Japan's oldest shrines, the {{Nihongo3|||Kamisha Honmiya}} and the two shrines of the {{Nihongo3|||Shimosha}} do not have a honden, the building that normally enshrines the shrine deity.{{cite web|title=Suwa Shinkō|url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=1080|publisher=Encyclopedia of Shinto|access-date=21 September 2010}} Instead, the Upper Shrine's objects of worship were the sacred mountain behind the {{Nihongo3|||Honmiya}},{{cite web|title=守屋山と神体山|url=http://yatsu-genjin.jp/suwataisya/zatugaku/sintaisan.htm|website=諏訪大社と諏訪神社|publisher=八ヶ岳原人}}{{cite web|title=Suwa Taisha Shrine|url=https://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-temples-shrines/suwa-shrine-nagano|website=JapanVisitor Japan Travel Guide}} a {{Nihongo|sacred rock|磐座|iwakura}} upon which Suwa Daimyōjin was thought to descend,Tanigawa, ed. (1987). p. 132-135. and the shrine's former high priest or Ōhōri {{Nihongo2|大祝}} who was considered to be the physical incarnation of the god himself.Tanigawa, ed. (1987). p. 135-136. This was later joined by two Buddhist structures (no longer extant since the Meiji period): a stone pagoda in the shrine's inner sanctum known as the {{Nihongo|2=鉄塔|3=Tettō}}, 'iron tower', and a sanctuary to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra (Fugen)—Suwa Daimyōjin being considered to be a manifestation of this bodhisattva—on the sacred mountain.Inoue (2003). pp. 349–350. Meanwhile, the Lower Shrine's objects of worship are sacred trees: a sugi tree in the {{Nihongo3|||Harumiya}}, and a yew tree in the {{Nihongo3|||Akimiya}}.Tanigawa, ed. (1987). p. 142.

{{multiple image|direction=vertical|width = 180|align=left||image1=Ukishima-sha_,_浮島社_-_panoramio_(2).jpg|caption1= Onbashira in Ukishima Shrine, Shimosuwa|image2=Tenaga-jinja_setsumatsusha.JPG|caption2=Small onbashira on miniature shrines in Tenaga Shrine, Suwa City}}

Unlike today, there were originally far fewer buildings in the precincts: in the {{Nihongo3|||Kamisha Honmiya}}'s case, medieval records for instance indicate that the shrine's most sacred area where a worship hall (haiden) now stands once featured only a torii gate and the god's dwelling place, the {{Nihongo3|||iwakura}}, demarcated by a kind of fence ({{Nihongo|2=格子|3=kakusu}}).Miyasaka (1992). p. 159.Yazaki (1986). p. 96.

All four shrines of the Suwa Shrine complex are each surrounded on their four corners by large wooden pillars known as the {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}}. These pillars are all currently made out of momi fir tree trunks,{{cite web|title=Suwa Grand Shrine (Suwa Taisha)|url=http://www.go-nagano.net/shisetsu-detail?shisetsuid=39008001|website=Go! Nagano (Nagano Prefecture Official Tourism Guide)|access-date=2017-12-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404133750/http://www.go-nagano.net/shisetsu-detail?shisetsuid=39008001|archive-date=2019-04-04|url-status=dead}} though wood from other trees such as larch or Japanese cedar were also used in the past.{{cite web|title=教えて！御柱祭（２）［Ｑ］御柱は何本でどんな木？|url=http://www.shinmai.co.jp/onbasira/2016/01/post-151.html|website=御柱祭 信州特殊サイト|publisher=The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun}}

The largest of a set of four {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}}, measuring 5 jō and 5 shaku (approx. 16.6 meters) high, is designated as the 'first pillar' or {{Nihongo|2=一の柱|3=ichi no hashira}}, while the remaining three pillars—the {{Nihongo|second pillar|二の柱|ni no hashira}}, {{Nihongo|third pillar|三の柱|san no hashira}}, and {{Nihongo|fourth pillar|四の柱|yon no hashira}}—are five {{Nihongo3|||jō}} (approx. 15 m), four {{Nihongo3|||jō}} and five {{Nihongo3|||shaku}} (approx. 13.6 m), and four {{Nihongo3|||jō}} (approx. 12 m), respectively.{{cite web|title=御柱のサイズ比較！太い順に全部並べてみた|url=http://onbashira.info/2016/03/03/%E5%BE%A1%E6%9F%B1%E3%81%AE%E5%A4%AA%E3%81%95%E9%A0%86%E3%81%AB%E4%B8%A6%E3%81%B9%E3%81%A6%E3%81%BF%E3%81%9F/|website=ヨーイサヤレヨーイサ(β)}}

An {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}}'s girth is traditionally determined by measuring the uncut tree's circumference at eye level, {{Nihongo3||目通り|medōri}}. The actual thickness of the logs used may vary: the largest {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} in recent history in terms of girth is the {{Nihongo3|||Akimiya}}'s {{Nihongo3|||ichi no hashira}} used in the festival of 1950 (Shōwa 25).Miyasaka (1992). p. 180.{{cite web|title=現存する最大の御柱|url=http://yatsu-genjin.jp/suwataisya/simosya/hasira.htm|website=諏訪大社と諏訪神社（附･神社参拝記）.|publisher=八ヶ岳原人}}

Aside from the large {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} at Suwa Shrine, smaller {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} are also erected in its branch shrines throughout the country. {{Nihongo3|||Onbashira}} are also found in many local shrines in historical Suwa district (see pictures on left).

File:Wu Xing.png]]

The {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}}'s origins and original purpose are shrouded in mystery. They have been variously interpreted among other things as relics of much larger structures, a kind of barrier or boundary marker (cf. the Korean jangseung), as totem poles,{{cite web|title=御柱祭のルーツ|url=http://tohyamago.com/experience/onbasira_roots/|website=信州遠山郷 秘境の旅| date=23 November 2016 |publisher=Toyamago Sight Seeing Information Center (遠山郷観光協会)}} or even as symbolic substitutes for rebuilding the entire shrine complex.Muraoka (1969). pp. 87–89. Some scholars meanwhile consider the practice of erecting sacred pillars to derive ultimately from prehistoric tree worship, citing the remains of wooden poles or slabs discovered in various Jōmon period sites in apparently ritualistic contexts as potential parallels to the Suwa {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}}.{{cite AV media | people =NHK | date =26 June 2016 | title =「御柱」～最後の"縄文王国"の謎～ (Onbashira: Saigo no Jōmon ōkoku no nazo) | medium = Documentary | url =http://www6.nhk.or.jp/special/detail/index.html?aid=20160626 | location = Japan | publisher =NHK}}{{cite book|last1=Matsui|first1=Keisuke|title=Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior|date=2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-4431545507|page=26|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQ-7BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA26}}{{cite book|last1=Miyasaka|first1=Mitsuaki|title=諏訪大社の御柱と年中行事 (Suwa Taisha no Onbashira to Nenchū-gyōji)|date=1992|publisher=Kyodo Shuppansha|location=Nagano|isbn=978-4876631780|pages=155–156}}{{cite web|title=御柱祭とは|url=http://www.onbashira.jp/about/onbashira/|website=信州諏訪 御柱祭|publisher=Suwa Tourism Association}}{{cite web|title=御柱祭のルーツ|url=http://tohyamago.com/experience/onbasira_roots/|website=信州遠山郷| date=23 November 2016 |publisher=遠山郷観光協会}}

File:Three Unities (Sanhe).png

Possible influences by the Chinese theory of the five elements and the concept of the Earthly Branches in the ceremony of erecting {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}}—at least that of the Upper Shrine—have been observed. For instance, the ritual roughly reflects the elements' cycle of generation (wood begets fire, fire begets earth, earth begets metal), in that the Upper Shrine's {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} are made out of trees from a mountain to the east (associated with the element of wood) and are brought to the shrine, located south (fire) of Lake Suwa (north, water) in order to replace old {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} (earth), which are taken down and brought to Hachiryū Shrine in the former village of Chū-kaneko ({{Nihongo2|中金子}}, with {{Nihongo2|金}} meaning metal), now a part of Suwa City.{{cite book|last1=Hara|first1=Naomasa|title=龍蛇神: 諏訪大明神の中世的展開 (Ryūjajin: Suwa Daimyōjin no Chūseiteki Tenkai)|date=2012|publisher=Ningensha|isbn=978-4931388710|pages=224–226}} The custom of hammering ornamental sickles ({{Nihongo3|||nagikama}}) to the trees selected to become {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} has also been linked to the idea of the element of metal overcoming wood, with the sickle being thought to pacify or 'cut' violent winds, which is associated with the wood element (cf. Suwa Daimyōjin being a wind god).Ōwa, Iwao (1987). 諏訪の神と古代ヤマト王権 (Suwa no Kami to Kodai Yamato Ōken). In Tanigawa, ed. pp. 178–180.

The generating relationship between wood and fire and their connection with the Suwa deity is also seen in a medieval document known as the {{Nihongo3||陬波私注|Suwa Shichū}}, which associates Suwa Daimyōjin's birth and later 'disappearance' with the year of the Yang Wood Horse, {{Nihongo|2=甲午|3=kinoe-uma}}, the Horse being associated with the south, the direction of fire.Hara (2012). pp. 219.

The timing of the Onbashira Festival, which falls during the Zodiac years of the Tiger and the Monkey, and the rebuilding of the Upper Shrine's {{Nihongo3|||hōden}} or treasure halls (see below) at noon—the hour of the Horse—are seen as corresponding with the concept of the Three Unities ({{Nihongo2|三合}}, Chinese: {{Lang-zh|p=Sānhé|labels=no}}, Japanese: {{Nihongo3|||Sangō}}), where four of the five elements are assigned three branch signs each, representing {{Nihongo|'birth'|長生}}, {{Nihongo|'peak'|帝旺}}, and {{Nihongo|'burial'|墓}}.{{cite book|last1=Cook|first1=Constance|title=Death in Ancient China: The Tale of One Man's Journey|date=2006|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9047410638|pages=86–87|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=auIzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA86}}{{cite book|author1=Beijing Foreign Language Press|title=Chinese Auspicious Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oen_AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA9|translator=Shirley Tan|date=2012|publisher=Asiapac Books Pte Ltd.|isbn=978-9812296429|page=9}} The zodiac signs of the Tiger and the Horse are both associated with the 'birth' and 'peak' aspects of fire.Hara (2012). pp. 221-222.

File:Kiyomizudera engi emaki - Scroll1 Pic11 (cropped).jpg was said to have been assisted in his war against the Emishi by the deity of Suwa (Detail from a scene in the Kiyomizu-dera Engi Emaki)]]

Suwa Shrine's {{Nihongo3|||Onbashira}} Festival, officially known as the {{Nihongo3|||Shikinen Zōei Mihashira Taisai}} ({{Nihongo2|式年造営御柱大祭}}, lit. "Great Festival (of the) Periodic Building (of the Shrines and the) {{Nihongo3|||Mihashira}}"),{{cite web|title=御柱祭（式年造営御柱大祭）|url=http://www.suwa-tourism.jp/archives/000105.php|website=信州諏訪観光ナビ|publisher=Suwa Local Tourism Association (諏訪地方観光連盟)}} is popularly reckoned to have a 1,200 year history.{{cite web|url=http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201604020027.html|title=Risking life and limb in a festival held only once every six years|author=Wataru Miura|website=The Asahi Shimbun|date=2 April 2016|access-date=4 August 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://web-japan.org/atlas/festivals/fes12.html|title=Onbashira Festival|author=|website=Japan Atlas|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan|access-date=4 August 2016}} The Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba (written 1356) claims that the custom of reconstructing ({{Nihongo|2=造営|3=zōei}}) shrine edifices during the years of the Monkey and the Tiger started during the reign of Emperor Kanmu in the late 8th to early 9th century (early Heian period).Tanigawa, ed. (1987). p. 152.

One legend concerning Suwa Daimyōjin claims that he appeared to the general Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, appointed by Emperor Kanmu to subjugate the indigenous Emishi of northeastern Japan.Konishi (2014). p. 526.Yamashita (2006). pp. 13–14.Wakita (2007). p. 92. In thanksgiving for the god's miraculous assistance in Tamuramaro's campaign, the imperial court was said to have decreed the establishment of the various religious ceremonies of Suwa Shrine.Muraoka (1969). p. 87.

File:Suwa Taisha Honmiya, Western Hōden (諏訪大社 本宮 西宝殿).jpg. Both it and the eastern hōden (東宝殿) beside it are traditionally rebuilt in turns every six years: during an onbashira year the mikoshi inside either one of these two hōden is transferred to the other structure, where it will stay for six years; the emptied hōden is then torn down, rebuilt, and remains unoccupied for as long as the mikoshi is in the other building. In all, a given hōden stands for twelve years before it is reconstructed.]]According to the {{Nihongo3|||Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba}}, the periodic rebuilding ({{Nihongo|2=造営|3=zōei}}) of structures (every six years) in the Upper and Lower Shrines such as the 'treasure halls' or {{Nihongo3||宝殿|hōden}} where the shrines' mikoshi are kept was decreed to be a 'perpetual duty' ({{Nihongo|2=永代の課役|3=eidai no kayaku}}) of the whole province of Shinano, with the inhabitants of the various districts of the province responsible for organizing the event. Such was indeed the case until the shrines experienced a period of decline during the Sengoku period.

The {{Nihongo3|||Ekotoba}} describes the preparations for the rebuilding thus: at the onset of spring, the governor (kokushi) of Shinano would appoint officials who collected the necessary funds from the populace from checkpoints or toll booths ({{Nihongo|2=関|3=seki}}) set up in provincial roads in exchange for {{Nihongo|2=御符|3=mifu}}, official certifications stamped with the sacred seals of the Upper and Lower Shrines.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 156–157, 163–164.{{cite web|title=諏訪大社本宮の「宝殿と遷座」|url=http://yatsu-genjin.jp/suwataisya/zatugaku/gohouden.htm|website=諏訪大社と諏訪神社（附･神社参拝記）|publisher=八ヶ岳原人}} The rebuilding of the shrines was undertaken by artisans assembled from all across the province, while thousands of people were assigned the task of erecting the {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} into place, one or two thousand for each pillar.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 156–157.

Due to the exorbitant amount of money required for the project, locals traditionally avoided or postponed special occasions like marriages, coming-of-age ceremonies, or even funerals during the year.Miyasaka (1992). p. 154.{{cite web|title=御柱の歴史～諏訪市博物館「御柱とともに」より～|url=https://www.city.suwa.lg.jp/kanko/info/detail.jsp?id=2529|website=御柱祭いくぞやい|publisher=Suwa City}} In addition, observance of the event in the proper time was considered essential: failure to obey these taboos was thought to incur divine punishment.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 157–159.

The upheavals of the Sengoku period threatened Suwa Shrine and its religious rites. Indeed, the shrine's ceremonies would have been lost to oblivion had not the warlord Takeda Shingen, a staunch devotee of the Suwa deity, took steps to revive their performance.Matsui (2013). p. 24. In 1565, after he had fully conquered the whole of Shinano Province, Shingen issued an order for the reinstitution of the religious rites of both the {{Nihongo3|||Kamisha}} and the {{Nihongo3|||Shimosha}}, the {{Nihongo3|||zōei}} being one of them.Tanigawa, ed. (1987). pp. 137, 152–153.Yazaki (1986). p. 26.

In 1582 (Tenshō 10), the eldest son of Oda Nobunaga, Nobutada, led an army into Takeda-controlled Shinano and burned the Upper Shrine of Suwa to the ground.Turnbull (2012). p. 156.Furukawa (1988). p. 148.{{cite web|title=法華寺（ほっけじ）|url=http://homtasuwa.net/miru/rekishi/658/|website=homtaすわ}} The shrine, which was destroyed in the invasion, was subsequently rebuilt on schedule two years later, in 1584 (Tenshō 12, year of the Yang Wood Monkey).

The introduction of the bakuhan system in the Edo period effectively ended the 'perpetual' obligation of periodically rebuilding the shrines and replacing their {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} being imposed on the whole province of Shinano. Since then, these duties became the sole affair of the villages of Suwa (a.k.a. Takashima) Domain, where the shrines were.Tanigawa, ed. (1987). p. 153.

It is from around the Edo and the following Meiji periodsIshikawa (2008). p. 112. that the raising of the {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} gradually turned into a grand festival, overshadowing the {{Nihongo3|||zōei}} itself. It is thought that some of the current practices associated with the event may have been influenced by the rebuilding ceremony practiced at Ise Shrine.Yazaki (1986). p. 45. By the later half of the period, viewing galleries were being built for the huge crowds who gathered to witness the festival.

The establishment of State Shinto after the Meiji Restoration in 1868 changed the religious landscape of Suwa. As the union between Shinto and Buddhism that existed then at the shrines—as in most places in Japan—was brought to an endInoue (2003). pp. 362–371. and control over the Upper and Lower Shrines (merged into a single institution in 1871) was turned over from local priestly families to the government, the Onbashira Festival itself underwent massive changes.

Formerly, the task of procuring and raising the {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} were assigned to different villages every time via mutual agreement. In 1890, it was decided that lottery will be used henceforth to determine which villages will be assigned which {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} during a given festival.{{cite web|title=【御柱抽籤式】たかがくじ引き、されどくじ引き。責任重大の抽籤に各地区総代が出陣!!|url=http://www.hesocha.com/entry/tyusenkai|website=ヘソで茶をわかす|date=15 February 2016 }} While the villages under the Upper Shrine's jurisdiction (currently districts in the modern-day cities of Chino and Suwa, the town of Fujimi, and the village of Hara) are still allotted their respective {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} via lottery to this very day, the responsible villages for the Lower Shrine's {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} soon decided to do away with the lottery for the 1902 festival and instead permanently assigned particular villages to a particular {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}}, an arrangement that continues to this day.{{cite web|title=御抽選|url=http://onbashira.sakura.ne.jp/wp/%E5%BE%A1%E6%9F%B1%E3%81%AB%E3%81%A4%E3%81%84%E3%81%A6/%E5%BE%A1%E6%8A%BD%E9%81%B8/|website=上社御柱情報サイト Kamisya ONBASHIRA|access-date=2017-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511191025/http://onbashira.sakura.ne.jp/wp/%E5%BE%A1%E6%9F%B1%E3%81%AB%E3%81%A4%E3%81%84%E3%81%A6/%E5%BE%A1%E6%8A%BD%E9%81%B8/|archive-date=2016-05-11|url-status=dead}}Ishikawa (2008). p. 117.

File:Suwa taisha harumiya04bs3200.jpg hall with two onbashira visible in the background.]]

The Lower Shrine's iconic {{Nihongo3|||Kiotoshi}}, wherein the {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} are slid down a steep hill (the {{Nihongo3|||Kiotoshi-zaka}}) as men attempt to ride it, originated from the Meiji period onwards. Unlike the Upper Shrine, which had a specially-designated area from which to obtain the wooden logs, the Lower Shrine originally used tree trunks obtained from different nearby mountains; it was not until 1895 that the forest of Higashimata {{Nihongo|2=東俣}} in Shimosuwa was established as the sole source for the Lower Shrine's {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} and the current route which passes through the hill was adopted.Ishikawa (2008). p. 113.

In 1914 (Taishō 3), 21-year-old Tomoya Nakamura {{Nihongo|2=中村知也}} became the first known person to ride an {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} as it was being slid down the {{Nihongo3|||Kiotoshi-zaka}}. He is said to have repeated the same feat during the subsequent five festivals, making him a local legend.Ishikawa (2008). pp. 113–114. It apparently took some time for others to imitate Nakamura: a photograph attached to a newspaper article about the festival in 1920 distinctly shows no one on the {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} depicted.Ishikawa (2008). p. 120. It was only from the festivals of 1926 and 1932 that reports of log-riding began to appear.Ishikawa (2008). pp. 118–120.

During the final years of World War II, as Japan's military situation became more desperate, the government began altering its original conscription laws, so that in 1943, all male students over the age of 20 became subject to the draft, whereas they had formerly been exempted. By 1944, men under 20—some as young as 15—were being pressured to serve in the military.{{cite web|title=How Did the Japanese Draft Citizens in World War II?|url=http://www.historynet.com/how-did-the-japanese-draft-citizens-in-world-war-ii.htm|website=HistoryNet.com| date=14 January 2016 |publisher=World History Group}}{{cite web|title=Conscription|url=http://www.pwencycl.kgbudge.com/C/o/Conscription.htm|website=The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia}} Due to the lack of able-bodied adult men, the Onbashira Festival of 1944 (Shōwa 19) was performed mainly by women (who formerly did not take part in the proceedings) and by older men who were not pressed into military service.{{cite web|author1=林 郁|title=諏訪大社の歴史と御柱の大事な意味|url=http://www.alter-magazine.jp/index.php?%E8%AB%8F%E8%A8%AA%E5%A4%A7%E7%A4%BE%E3%81%AE%E6%AD%B4%E5%8F%B2%E3%81%A8%E5%BE%A1%E6%9F%B1%E3%81%AE%E5%A4%A7%E4%BA%8B%E3%81%AA%E6%84%8F%E5%91%B3|website=メールマガジン「オルタ」}} During the festival, then-mayor of Shimosuwa, Tokichi Takagi {{Nihongo|2=高木十吉}}, died from an accident during the {{Nihongo3|||Yamadashi}}. It has since become customary to pray for safety during the proceedings before a monument dedicated to his memory.{{cite web|title=下社山出し～棚木場→萩倉の大曲前|url=https://www.city.suwa.lg.jp/kanko/info/detail.jsp?id=2969|website=御柱祭いくぞやい|publisher=Suwa City}}{{cite web|title=諏訪大社御柱祭 平成16年 下社山出し編 その 1|url=http://www.geocities.jp/onriedo_gongujodo/onbashira/onbashira-yama01.html|website=厭離穢土欣求浄土}}

The festival of 1950 (Shōwa 25), the first to be held after the war, marked the first time women were officially allowed to participate in the event.

Preparations for the festival commences with the process of selecting the trees that will be turned into {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}}, the {{Nihongo3||見立て|Mitate}}. In the Upper Shrine's case, a preliminary inspection ({{Nihongo|2=仮見立|3=Kari-mitate}}) is performed two years before a given festival, with the formal selection process ({{Nihongo|2=本見立|3=Hon-mitate}}) being held a year after this.Miyasaka (1992). p. 164.

The Upper Shrine's {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} are made from momi fir trees procured from Mount Okoya ({{Nihongo|2=御小屋山|3=Okoya-san}})—part of the Southern Yatsugatake Mountains—in the village of Hara,{{cite web|title=上社の御柱山「御小屋山」|url=https://www.city.suwa.lg.jp/kanko/info/detail.jsp?id=2743|website=御柱祭いくぞやい|publisher=Suwa City}} while those of the Lower Shrine are taken from the forest of Higashimata {{Nihongo|2=東俣}} in the town of Shimosuwa.

Image:ONBASHIRA festival (tree drop) Nagano,JAPAN.jpg

Image:Suwataisya kamisya kawagoshi.JPG

{{Nihongo3|||Yamadashi}} literally means "coming out of the mountains". Sixteen fir trees, usually about {{convert|17 to 19|m}} tall, are selected and cut down in a Shinto ceremony using specially-made axes and adzes.{{cite web|url=http://www.go-nagano.net/information/the-onbashira-festival-2016|title=The Onbashira Festival 2016|author=Anthony Blair Guardia|website=Go! Nagano|publisher=Nagano Tourism Board|date=4 December 2015|access-date=4 August 2016}} The logs are decorated in red and white regalia, the traditional colors of Shinto ceremonies, and ropes are attached. During {{Nihongo3|||Yamadashi}}, teams of people drag the logs down the mountain towards the shrine. The course of the logs goes over rough terrain, and at certain points the logs must be skidded or dropped down steep slopes. Young men prove their bravery by riding the logs, which can weigh as much as 12 tons,{{cite web|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2004/04/11/2003136206|title=Log-riding festival is as odd as it gets|author=|website=Taipei Times|date=11 April 2004}} down the hill in a ceremony known as {{Nihongo3|||Kiotoshi}} ("tree falling").

During {{Nihongo3|||Satobiki}}, held about a month later, the logs are paraded to the four shrine buildings where they will be erected: Honmiya, Maemiya, Harumiya, and Akimiya.{{cite web|url=http://travel.cnn.com/tokyo/play/onbashirasai-festival-holy-log-rollers-023914/|title=Onbashira-sai festival: The log surfers of Lake Suwa|author=Hiroko Yoda|website=CNN Travel|date=5 May 2010|access-date=4 August 2016}} Four {{Nihongo3|||onbashira}} are erected at each building, one at each corner. The logs are raised with ropes by hand, and while they are being raised, a ceremonial group of log bearers ride the logs and sing and perform other feats. This ceremony was performed as part of the opening ceremonies of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

After the two festivals, there is an important event, the "Building of {{Nihongo3|||Hoden}}". This event, which marks the end of {{Nihongo3|||Onbashira}}, is not as famous as {{Nihongo3|||Yamadashi}} and {{Nihongo3|||Satobiki}}.

{{Nihongo3|||Onbashira}} has a reputation for being the most dangerous festival in Japan, and it has led to the injury and death of participants. There were fatal incidents in 1980, 1986, 1992,{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/09/man-dies-in-japans-most-dangerous-festival/|title=Man dies in Japan's most dangerous festival|author=Julian Ryall|website=The Telegraph|date=9 May 2016|access-date=4 August 2016}} 2010,{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/7703924/Two-die-in-Japans-notorious-tree-sliding-religious-festival.html|title=Two die in Japan's notorious tree-sliding religious festival|author=Julian Ryall|website=The Telegraph|date=10 May 2010|access-date=21 May 2016

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810105336/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/7703924/Two-die-in-Japans-notorious-tree-sliding-religious-festival.html

|archive-date=2016-08-10

}} and 2016. In 1992, two men drowned while a log was being pulled across a river. In 2010, two men, Noritoshi Masuzawa, 45, and Kazuya Hirata, 33, died after falling from a height of {{convert|10|m}} as a tree trunk was being raised on the grounds of the Suwa Grand Shrine. Two other men were injured in the same accident, which organizers say occurred when a guide-wire supporting the {{convert|17|m|adj=on}} tree gave way. In 2016, one man died falling from a tree as it was being raised at the shrine.

• Mishaguji
• Suwa taisha
• Takeminakata
• Totem pole

{{reflist|30em}}

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{{Commons category|Onbashira Festival}}

• [https://onbashira.jp/ Onbashira Web] (in Japanese)

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Category:Festivals in Japan

Category:Tourist attractions in Nagano Prefecture

Category:Suwa faith

Category:Suwa shrines

Category:Prefecturally designated intangible folk cultural property