Takeminakata#Apparition to Sakanoue no Tamuramaro

File:Suwa Hosshō Banner - 諏訪法性旗.png's Suwa Hosshō banner (諏訪法性旗). The inscription reads: Namu Suwa Nangū Hosshō Kamishimo (or Jōge) Daimyōjin (南無諏方南宮法性上下大明神)]]

The god is named 'Takeminakata-no-Kami' ({{nihongo2|建御名方神}}) in both the Kojiki (ca. 712 CE) and the Sendai Kuji Hongi (ca. 807-936 CE).{{cite web|title=先代舊事本紀卷第四|url=http://miko.org/~uraki/kuon/furu/text/sendaikuji/sendaikuji04.htm|website=私本 先代舊事本紀}}Sendai Kuji Hongi, Book 4 (先代舊事本紀 巻第四), in {{cite book|editor=Keizai Zasshisha|title=Kokushi-taikei, vol. 7 (国史大系 第7巻)|date=1898|publisher=Keizai Zasshisha|pages=243–244|url=http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/991097/136}} Variants of the name found in the imperially commissioned national histories and other literary sources include the following:{{Cite web|title=南方刀美神社|url=http://21coe.kokugakuin.ac.jp/db/jinja/240101.html|access-date=2020-12-05|website=神道・神社史料集成 (Shinto Jinja Database)|publisher=Kokugakuin University}}

• Minakatatomi-no-Kami (南方刀美神)
• Minakatatomi-no-Mikoto-no-Kami (御名方富命神)
• Takeminakatatomi-no-Mikoto (健御名方富命 / 建御名方富命)
• Takeminakatatomi-no-Mikoto-no-Kami (建御名方富命神)

The etymology of the name '(Take)minakata(tomi)' is unclear. While most commentators seem to agree that take- (and probably -tomi) are honorifics, they differ in how to interpret the other components of the name. Some of the proposed solutions are as follows.

• The Edo period kokugaku scholar Motoori NorinagaMotoori, Norinaga (1937). [http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1109355/81 古事記傳 (Kojiki-den), vol. 14] in Motoori Toyokai (ed.), Motoori Norinaga Zenshū (本居宣長全集), vol. 2. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan. p. 675. (Original work written 1764–1798) explained both take- (建) and mi- (御) as honorifics (称名 tatae-na), with kata (方) as yet another tatae-na meaning "hard" or "firm" (堅). Basil Chamberlain followed Motoori's lead and rendered the god's name as 'Brave-August-Name-Firm' in his translation of the Kojiki.Chamberlain, Basil (trans.) (1882). [http://sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj039.htm 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.
• Ōta Akira (1926) interpreted take-, mi- and -tomi as honorifics and took Nakata (名方) to be a place name: Nakata District (名方郡) in Awa Province (modern Ishii, Tokushima Prefecture), where [https://www.google.co.jp/maps/place/%E3%80%92779-3200+Tokushima-ken,+My%C5%8Dzai-gun,+Ishii-ch%C5%8D,+Urash%C5%8D,+Suwa%E2%88%92213%E2%88%921,+%E5%A4%9A%E7%A5%81%E5%BE%A1%E5%A5%88%E5%88%80%E5%BC%A5%E7%A5%9E%E7%A4%BE/@34.0723826,134.4092873,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x35530a6f7db45037:0x3b0f62dd7dc4f1db!8m2!3d34.0723861!4d134.4114833 Takeminatomi Shrine] (多祁御奈刀弥神社) stands.Ōta (1926). p. 8. Ōwa Iwao (1990) suggests that the presence of Azumi people in both Awa and Shinano, as well as the possible connection between the Azumi and the Lower Shrine of Suwa, may explain the similarity between 'Takeminakata(tomi)' and 'Takeminatomi'.Ōwa (1990). pp. 214–216.
• Minakata has also been linked to the Munakata (宗像) of Kyushu.{{Citation|title = Takeminakata-no-Kami (建御名方神)|author=Yoshii, Iwao|encyclopedia = Encyclopedia Nipponica|year=1994 |volume=14|publisher=Shōgakukan|isbn=978-4-09-526114-0}} Matsuoka Shizuo (1936) interpreted Minakatatomi as originally being a goddess – citing the fact that the deities of Munakata shrine were female – that was later conflated with the male god Takeminakata.{{cite book|last1=Matsuoka|first1=Shizuo|title=Minzokugaku yori mitaru Azuma-uta to Sakimori-uta (民族學より見たる東歌と防人歌)|date=1936|publisher=Ōokayama-shoten|pages=197–199|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QLb0QBVHZW8C}}
• Another explanation proposes minakata to mean "south(ern)" (南方).Miyaji (1931). p. 10. A variant of this hypothesis sees the name as hinting at a connection between the god and metalworking, in which the southern direction is important: Mayumi Tsunetada (1981) for instance proposed that Takeminakata's name refers to the southern pillar of a takadono (a high-roofed house housing a tatara furnace).{{Cite book|title = Nihon kodai saishi to tetsu (日本古代祭祀と鉄)|last1=Mayumi|first1=Tsunetada|publisher=Gakuseisha|page=110|year=1981}} Gustav Heldt's translation of the Kojiki (2014), where the name is translated as 'Brave Southward Smelter', follows this interpretation.{{cite book |last1=Heldt |first1=Gustav |title=The Kojiki: An Account of Ancient Matters |date=2014 |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=46, 210 |isbn=9780231163880 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RAMZBQAAQBAJ}}
• Yet another theory interprets mi(na)- to mean "water" (水), pointing to the god being a water deity perhaps associated with Lake Suwa.{{cite book|author=Yamaguchi, Yoshinori and Kōnoshi, Takamitsu (eds.)|title=Shinpen nihon koten bungaku zenshū, vol. 1. Kojiki (新編日本古典文学全集 (1) 古事記)|date=1997|publisher=Shōgakukan|isbn=978-4-09-658001-1|pages=107–111}}Muraoka (1969). pp. 14–16.Okada, Yoneo (1966). Zenkoku jinja saijin goshintokki (全国神社祭神御神徳記), quoted in Muraoka (1969). p. 14.Miyasaka, Mitsuaki (1987). "Kyodai naru kami no kuni. Suwa-shinko no tokushitsu (強大なる神の国―諏訪信仰の特質)." In Ueda; Gorai; Ōbayashi; Miyasaka, M.; Miyasaka, Y. p. 31. The full name is thought to derive from a word denoting a body of water or a waterside region such as 水潟 (minakata, "lagoon" or "inlet") or 水県 (mi(na)- "water" + agata "country(side)").
• An alternative explanation for the word -tomi (as well as the -tome in 'Yasakatome', the name of this god's consort) is to link it with dialectal words for "snake" (tomi, tobe, or tōbe), thereby seeing the name as hinting to the god being a kind of serpentine water deity (mizuchi).Tomiku, Takashi (1970). Himiko (卑弥呼). Gakuseisha. p. 48, cited in Kanai (1982). p. 6.

{{see also|Myōjin}}

During the medieval and early modern periods, the god enshrined in Suwa Grand Shrine – specifically, in the Upper Shrine (Kamisha) located southeast of Lake Suwa – was popularly known as Suwa Daimyōjin ({{nihongo2|諏訪大明神}} / 諏方大明神) or Suwa Myōjin ({{nihongo2|諏訪明神}}), a name also applied via metonymy to the shrine itself. The name '(Take)minakata(tomi)' was rarely used, if at all, during this period: indeed, medieval documents from Suwa Shrine simply refer to the god as sonshin / sonjin (尊神, "revered deity") or myōjin (明神, "bright deity" or "manifest deity").Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 688. This however is hardly unusual, as before the early modern period use of titles such as myōjin or gongen for various gods and their shrines were so widespread that these deities were rarely referred to by their classical names.{{cite journal|last1=Nakamura|first1=Issei|title=平安期における大明神号の成立とその意義 (The Formation and Significance of the Title Daimyoujin in the Heian Period)|journal=The Bukkyo University Graduate School Review. Compiled by the Graduate School of Literature.|date=2009-03-01|issue=37|page=74|url=http://archives.bukkyo-u.ac.jp/repository/baker/rid_DB003700003047}}

Other epithets applied to the Suwa deity include Nangū Daimyōjin (南宮大明神, "Daimyōjin of the Southern Shrine (Nangū)"), Hosshō Daimyōjin (法性大明神, "Dharma-Nature Daimyōjin"), a combination of the two such as Nangū Hosshō Daimyōjin (南宮法性大明神), or Suwa Hosshō Kamishimo (or Jōge) Daimyōjin (諏訪法性上下大明神, "Dharma-Nature Daimyōjin of the Upper and Lower Suwa [Shrines]").{{Cite book|last=Miyaji|first=Naokazu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHYSgY4lTZcC|title=諏訪史 第2巻 後編 (Suwa-shi, vol. 2, part 2)|publisher=Shinano Kyōikukai Suwa Bukai|year=1937|pages=86}} Some of the war banners used by Sengoku daimyō Takeda Shingen (a devotee of the god) for instance contain the inscription Suwa Nangū Hosshō Kamishimo / Jōge Daimyōjin (諏訪南宮法性上下大明神 / 諏方南宮法性上下大明神).{{cite web|title=山梨の文化財ガイド (Guide to Cultural Assets of Yamanashi)|url=https://www.pref.yamanashi.jp/gakujutu/bunkazaihogo/bunkazai_data/yamanashinobunkazai_rekishishiryou002.html|website=Official website of Yamanashi Prefecture|access-date=January 28, 2017|archive-date=May 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506204347/http://www.pref.yamanashi.jp/gakujutu/bunkazaihogo/bunkazai_data/yamanashinobunkazai_rekishishiryou002.html|url-status=dead}}Miyaji (1931b). pp. 86–89. A hanging scroll given by Emperor Go-Nara (reigned 1526–1557) to the Upper Shrine in 1553 (Tenbun 22), written in the emperor's own calligraphy, refers to the god as Suwa Shōichii Nangū Hossho Daimyōjin (諏方正一位南宮法性大明神, "Dharma-Nature Daimyōjin of the Suwa Nangū, of Upper First Rank").{{Cite book|last=Miyasaka|first=Yūshō|title=御柱祭と諏訪大社 (Onbashira-sai to Suwa taisha)|publisher=Chikuma Shobō|year=1987|pages=162–164|chapter=神と仏の融合ー密教思想からの解釈 (Kami to hotoke no yūgō: mikkyō shisō kara no kaishaku)}}

File:Size of Lake Suwa.png at its prime (Kofun - Heian periods) with its current size. Also shown are two of the four shrines that comprise Suwa Taisha (Kamisha Honmiya and Shimosha Akimiya).]]

A number of explanations have been proposed for the origin of the term Nangū. One theory posits it to refer to the geographical location of the Upper Suwa Shrine, which is located southeast of Lake Suwa, at the southern half of Shinano Province, while another claims it to be derived from 'Minakatatomi' (南方刀美), one of the variant names for the deity, with minakata being apparently understood to mean "south(ern)" (cf. etymology of 'Takeminakata' above).Miyaji (1937). pp. 23-24. The term has also been interpreted to come from the medieval belief that the Suwa deity was the guardian of the south side of the imperial palaceTakei (1999). pp. 130, 142. or the Shinto-Buddhist concept that the god is an enlightened being who manifested in our world, which in Buddhist cosmology is the southern continent of Jambudvīpa.

Aside from Suwa Shrine, Nangū was also applied to Kanayamahiko Shrine in Mino Province (modern Nangū Taisha in Gifu Prefecture) and Aekuni Shrine (南宮大菩薩, Nangū Daibosatsu) in Iga Province (modern Mie Prefecture). A song in the late Heian period anthology Ryōjin Hishō associates the three shrines together, with Suwa Shrine being identified as the "head" of the three Nangū shrines (南宮の本山, nangu no honzan), the shrine at Mino as the "midmost shrine" (中の宮, naka no miya), and the shrine at Iga as the "youngest shrine" (稚の宮, chigo no miya).{{Cite book|last=Ōba|first=Yūsuke|title=竜神信仰: 諏訪神のルーツをさぐる (Ryujin shinkō: Suwa-gami no rūtsu o saguru)|publisher=Ronsōsha|year=2006|pages=137–138}}

Hosshō, meanwhile, is believed to refer to the concept of the dharmakāya (法性身, hosshōshin), the formless, transcendent ultimate truth that is the source of all buddhas, which are its physical manifestations (nirmāṇakāya). A certain medieval legend claims that the Suwa deity chose an eight-year-old boy to become his priest while declaring: "I have no (physical) body and so make this priest my body".{{cite book |last1=Terada |first1=Shizuko |last2=Washio |first2=Tetsuta |title=諏訪明神―カミ信仰の原像 (Suwa Myōjin: Kami shinkō no genzō)|date=2010 |publisher=Iwata Shoin |page=116}}

Takeminakata is portrayed in both the Kojiki and the Sendai Kuji Hongi as a son of the god Ōkuninushi, although the former does not include him in its genealogy of Ōkuninushi's children.Chamberlain (1882). [http://sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj033.htm Section XXVI.—The Deities the August Descendants of the Deity Master-of-the-Great-Land] The Kuji Hongi meanwhile identifies him as the son of Ōnamuchi (Ōkuninushi) with one of his wives, Nunakawahime of Koshi.Chamberlain (1882). [http://sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj031.htm Section XXIV.—The Wooing of the Deity-of-Eight-Thousand-Spears.]

{{see also|Kuni-yuzuri}}

File:Shinpukuji-bon Kojiki (真福寺本古事記).png, the Shinpukuji-bon (真福寺本, written 1371–1372)]]Takeminakata appears in both the Kojiki and the Kuji Hongi in the context of Ōkuninushi's "transfer of the land" (kuni-yuzuri) to the amatsukami, the gods of the heavenly realm of Takamagahara.{{cite web|title=先代舊事本紀卷第三|url=http://miko.org/~uraki/kuon/furu/text/sendaikuji/sendaikuji03.htm|website=私本 先代舊事本紀}}

When the heavenly deities, headed by the sun goddess Amaterasu and/or the primordial deity Takamimusubi, sent Takemikazuchi and another messenger{{efn|Ame-no-Torifune in the Kojiki, Futsunushi in the Nihon Shoki and the Kuji Hongi}} to demand that Ōkuninushi relinquish his authority over the earthly realm of Ashihara no Nakatsukuni (the "Central Land of Reed-Plains") to Amaterasu's progeny, he told the messengers to consult his son Kotoshironushi, who immediately accepted their demands and advised his father to do likewise. Upon being asked if he had any other sons who ought to express their opinion, Ōkuninushi told the messengers that he had another son named Takeminakata.

As he was saying this, this same Takeminakata-no-Kami came bearing a tremendous boulder (千引之石, chibiki no iwa, i.e. a boulder so large it would take a thousand men to pull) on his finger-tips and said:

"Who is it who has come to our land and is talking so furtively? Come, let us test our strength; I will first take your arm."

When [Takemikazuchi-no-Kami] allowed [Takeminakata-no-Kami] to take his arm, he changed it into a column of ice, then again changed it into a sword blade. At this, he (Takeminakata) was afraid and drew back.

Then [Takemikazuchi-no-Kami], in his turn, demanded [the right] to take hold of the arm of Takeminakata-no-Kami.

When he took it, it was like taking hold of a young reed; he grasped it and crushed it, throwing it aside. Immediately, he (Takeminakata) ran away.

They pursued him, and caught up with him by the lake of Suwa in the land of Shinano (科野国州羽海). As they were about to kill him, Takeminakata-no-Kami said:

"Pray do not kill me. I will go to no other place. Also I will not disobey the commands of my father, Ōkuninushi-no-Kami, and will not disobey the words of the words of Yae-Kotoshironushi-no-Kami. I will yield this Central Land of the Reed Plains in accordance with the commands of the Heavenly Deities."Translation from {{cite book |last1=Philippi |first1=Donald L. |title=Kojiki |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1400878000 |page=133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzjWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA133}} Names (transcribed in Old Japanese in the original) have been changed into their modern equivalents.

With Takeminakata's surrender, Ōkuninushi finally agreed to cede the land to the amatsukami and withdrew himself into the unseen spirit world.{{cite book|author=J. Hackin|title=Asiatic Mythology: A Detailed Description and Explanation of the Mythologies of All the Great Nations of Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HAZrFhvqnTkC&pg=PA395|year=1932|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0920-4|page=395}}{{cite book|author=Jean Herbert|title=Shinto: At the Fountainhead of Japan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sg_JBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT437|date=18 October 2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-90376-2|page=437}}{{cite book|author=Michael Ashkenazi|title=Handbook of Japanese Mythology|url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofjapane0000ashk|url-access=registration|date=1 January 2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-467-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/handbookofjapane0000ashk/page/267 267]–268}}

File:建御名方神 - Takeminakata.jpg

The opening section of the Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba, a Nanboku-chō period compilation of legends and other information regarding Suwa Shrine and its festivals completed in 1356, retells the Kuji Hongi version of this story, albeit with Takeminakata's shameful defeat in the hands of Takemikazuchi notably omitted.Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). pp. 685, 689.

It is said in the Kuji Hongi that Amaterasu-Ōmikami gave a decree and sent two gods, Futsunushi-no-Kami (of Katori Shrine in Shimōsa Province) and Takeikatsuchi-no-Kami (of Kashima Shrine in Hitachi), down to the land of Izumo, where they declared to Ōanamuchi (of Kitsuki in Izumo [and] Miwa in Yamato), "The Central Land of Reed-Plains is the land entrusted to our heir. Are you willing to give it up to the heavenly deities?"

Ōanamuchi said, "Ask my son, Kotoshironushi-no-Kami (of Nagata Shrine in Settsu; eighth [patron deity of] the Jingi-kan); he will give you an answer."
Kotoshironushi-no-Kami said, "My father ought respectfully to withdraw, nor will I disobey."
[The messengers said,] "Do you have any other sons who ought to speak?"
"There is also my son, Takeminakata-no-Kami (of Suwa Shrine)."
[He] came, bearing a heavy boulder on his fingertips, saying, "Who is it who has come to our land and is talking so furtively? I wish to challenge you to a test of strength."

When he took his hand, he caused ice to appear, and then he manifested a sword. Upon arriving at the sea of Suwa in the land of Shinano, Takeminakata-no-Kami said, "I will go to no other place."

This is the karmic origins of the [Suwa deity's] manifest trace (垂迹の本縁, suijaku no hon'en).{{efn|「天照太神ミコトノリシテ経津主ノ総州香取社神武甕槌ノ常州鹿島社神二柱ノ神ヲ出雲国ニ降タテマツリテ、大己貴雲州杵築・和州三輪ノ命ニ問テノタマハク、葦原ノ中津国者我御子の知ラスヘキ国ナリ。汝マサニ此国ヲモテ天ノ神ニ奉ンヤ、大己貴ノ命申サク、我子事代主摂州長田社・神祇官第八ノ神ニ問テ返事申サント申、事代主神申サク、我父ヨロシクマサニサリ奉ルヘシ。ワレモ我タカウヘカラスト申。又申ヘキ子アリヤ、又我子建御名方諏訪社ノ神、千引ノ石ヲ手末ニサヽケテ来テ申サク、是我国ニキタリテ、シノヒテカクイフハ、シカウシテ力クラヘセント思、先ソノ御手ヲ取テ即氷ヲ成立、又剣ヲ取成、科野ノ国洲羽ノ海ニイタルトキ、当御名方ノ神申サク、ワレ此国ヲ除者他処ニ不行云々、是則当社垂迹ノ本縁也。」Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba, in Kanai (1982). p. 219.}}Yamashita (2006). p. 9.

Although it was formerly thought that the Ekotoba's compiler, Suwa (Kosaka) Enchū (1295-1364, a member of a cadet branch of the Suwa clan based in Kyoto) was responsible for excising Takeminakata's defeat out of this retelling in order to portray the deity in a more positive light, Ryōtarō Maeda (2020) put forward the alternative explanation that Enchū may have made use from an anthology of excerpts or florilegium that happened to omit the relevant passage. He identifies Enchū's source text with an extract of the Kuji Hongi kuni-yuzuri narrative titled "The Matter of Suwa Shrine" (諏方社事, Suwa-sha no koto), which was in turn appended to a lengthy extract of the Kojiki's kuni-yuzuri account (古事記上巻抄, Kojiki Jōkan-shō, "Excerpt from the Upper Volume of the Kojiki") found in the temple library of Shinpuku-ji (Ōsu Kannon) in Nagoya.{{Cite web |title=古事記上巻抄 (Kojiki Jо̄kan-shо̄) |url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/3438605 |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=NDL Digital Collections |publisher=Koten Hozon-kai (古典保存会) |publication-date=1924}}Maeda (2020). pp. 43–57.

{{Blockquote

|text="(...) When he allowed him to take his hand, he changed it into a column of ice, and then changed it into a sword blade," and so forth (云々, unnun).

"Upon arriving at the sea of Suwa in the land of Shinano, Takeminakata-no-Kami said, 'I will go to no other place. And I will not disobey the commands of my father Ōkuninushi-no-Kami, and will not disobey the words of the words of my elder brother Yae-Kotoshironushi-no-Kami. I will yield this Central Land of the Reed Plains in accordance with the commands of the Heavenly Deities.'"|source="The Matter of Suwa Shrine" (諏方社事, Suwa-sha no koto)}}

File:諏方社事 - Suwa-sha no Koto.png Kojiki Jōkan-shō. The omission of the passage recounting Takeminakata's defeat is marked with an 云々 (unnun, "and so forth," "etc." - fourth column from left)]]

Based on textual affinities with the Urabe text of the Kojiki, the Jōkan-shō is thought to have been authored by a member of the priestly Urabe clan associated with the Yoshida and Hirano Shrines in Kyoto. Records indicate that during the medieval period, the Kuji Hongi was used by the Department of Divinities or Jingi-kan (in which many Urabe clan members occupied posts) as a go-to source for inquiries regarding the histories of various shrines across the country. It is also known that during his research for information regarding Suwa Shrine, Enchū sought the assistance of two Urabe clan members: Urabe Kanetoyo (卜部兼豊, of the Yoshida branch), then senior assistant director (神祇大輔, jingi taifu) of the Jingi-kan, and Urabe Kanemae (卜部兼前, of the Hirano branch), either of whom may have been responsible for compiling "The Matter of Suwa Shrine." In other words, Enchu most likely did not (or could not) consult the Kuji Hongi itself, but was rather working with an extract provided by his Urabe contacts.

File:Izumo okinoshima.jpg, Shimane Prefecture, the setting of the kuni-yuzuri myth cycle]]

Although he was not responsible for excising Takeminakata's surrender from the narrative himself, its absence from his source allowed Enchū to reimagine the Kuji Hongi narrative in a way that portrayed Takeminakata as a triumphant god who vowed to remain in Suwa of his own volition, consistent with the portrayal of the god of Suwa as an illustrious warrior deity in the Ekotoba's later portions. Whereas in the original Kojiki and Kuji Hongi narrative, Takemikazuchi is said to have "changed [his arm] into a column of ice, then again changed it into a sword blade" (取成立氷亦取成劍刃) after having it grasped by Takeminakata, Enchū - taking advantage of the ambiguous syntax of the original Classical Chinese text - chooses to read the text such that Takeminakata is now said to magically materialize ice and a sword as a display of his power to Takemikazuchi (即氷ヲ成立、又劍ヲ取成, "he (Takeminakata) caused ice to appear, and then he manifested a sword").

Before (and to an extent, even after) the rediscovery and subsequent boom in popularity of the Kojiki in the middle of the Edo period, the more positive image of Takeminakata as presented in the Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba exerted considerable influence in the way the kuni-yuzuri myth is recounted in early modern documents associated with Suwa Shrine, not least because it apparently introduced the myth (which seems to have originally been specific to the imperial court - see 'Analysis' below) into Suwa itself - where other myths concerning the Suwa deity were in circulation - for the first time.Maeda (2023). pp. 16-30.

Ryōtarō Maeda (2023), based on a study of surviving manuscripts of the text, postulates that the Ekotoba was only introduced to Suwa itself no earlier than the 17th century, where it gradually gained acceptance among the priestly families of Suwa Shrine, who produced a number of copies of it. Soon, the influence of the Ekotoba can be seen in a number of texts from the area: a text penned by the hatamoto Suwa Morieda (1646-1695), the younger brother of Suwa Tadaharu, the third daimyō of Takashima Domain in 1684 titled Shinshu Suwa Daimyōjin Engi (信州諏方大明神縁起, "The Origin Story of Suwa Daimyōjin of Shinano Province"), for instance, features the reinterpreted kuni-yuzuri myth, which Morieda then interprets in a Neo-Confucian light as a meritorious act of filial piety comparable to Taibo's renunciation of the throne of Zhou.

{{Blockquote

|text=They (Futsunushi and Takemikazuchi) also made the declaration [to cede the land] to this god (Takeminakata), but this god would not easily give his assent. Bearing a heavy boulder on his fingertips, he came, saying, "Who has come forth, saying these things? I wish to have a contest of strength." [But] he repented and eventually ceded the Central Land to the Heavenly Grandson. He departed, arriving at the sea of Suwa in the land of Shinano.

'It may be said that he is supreme in virtue, and the people could not praise him [enough].' (可謂至徳也、已民無得而稱焉){{efn|Quotation from Confucius' Analects: "It may be said that Taibo was supreme in virtue. Three times he renounced the sovereignty of all things under Heaven, but the people could not praise him." (泰伯其可謂至徳也已矣、三以天下譲、民無得而稱焉。)}} This is he who is now known as Suwa Daimyōjin.Maeda (2023). pp. 21-23.}}

File:Lake Suwa 20131231 - panoramio (cropped).jpg]]

As late as the 19th century (when awareness of the Kojiki's contents had become much more widespread due to the efforts of kokugaku scholars), this positive reinterpretation of the kuni-yuzuri narrative continued to be found within Suwa: a mid-19th century genealogical chart of Takeminakata issued by the Upper Shrine for instance quotes the above passage from the Shinshu Suwa Daimyōjin Engi.Maeda (2023). p. 23. A document submitted in 1834 to the Commissioner of Shrines and Temples (Jisha-bugyō) by the Lower Shrine's Momoi clan (桃井氏) of priests relates the following:

{{Blockquote

|text=When the two deities of Kashima and Katori came down to the land of Izumo at the command of the heavenly deities, he [Takeminakata] fought for his land bearing a heavy rock on his fingertips and engaged in a test of strength. He also took up a sword and exhibited valor. When he, leading [an army of] divine soldiers, arrived at the sea of Suwa in the land of Shinano, he offered up the Central Land of the Reed Plains to the Heavenly Grandson. As his divine father had ceded the land, he made a vow to never go to another place. This is the account of this shrine's establishment.Maeda (2023). p. 24.}}

A third text found in the archives of the Upper Shrine's Moriya (守矢氏) priestly clan titled "The Origin of Suwa Daimyōjin" (諏訪大明神由来, Suwa Daimyōjin yurai) features Takeminakata striking fear into Futsunushi and Takemikazuchi after displaying his power to them, only agreeing to cede Ashihara no Nakatsukuni after he was convinced by their reasoning. The three then go to Suwa, where they defeat the local deity Moriya (see below).Maeda (2023). p. 30.

Similar attempts at retelling or reinterpreting the myth in a more positive way are found in other texts. In one version, for instance, Takeminakata is portrayed as going to Suwa not so much to flee from Takemikazuchi but to pacify it under the orders of his father Ōkuninushi.Miyaji (1937). pp. 48-49.

A variant found in a commentary on the Nihon Shoki penned by a 15th-century monk named Shun'yu (春瑜), the Nihon Shoki Shikenmon (日本書紀私見聞), claims 'Suwa Daimyōjin' (諏防大明神) to be the third son of the deity Sannō Gongen, the guardian deity of Mount Hiei. After engaging in a failed rebellion against Amaterasu, the deity surrendered and settled down in the land of Shinano.Miyaji (1937). pp. 47.

Local legends from within Nagano Prefecture claim Takeminakata to have passed or stayed in various places within the region during his escape. A local legend in Shimoina District (located south of Suwa) for instance claims that Takemikazuchi caught up with the fleeing Takeminakata in the modern village of Toyooka, where they agreed to an armistice and left imprints of their hands on a rock as a sign of their agreement. The rock, bearing the gods' supposed handprints (tegata), is found in Otegata Shrine (御手形神社) in Toyooka.{{cite web |title=国護りと天孫降臨の神話ー御手形石ー |url=http://www.ja-mis.iijan.or.jp/gotominami/hometown/2016/11/post_140.php |website=JA Minami Shinshu official website}} After Takemikazuchi's departure, Takeminakata temporarily resided in the neighboring village of Ōshika, where he discovered hot springs of saltwater while hunting for deer.{{cite web |title=塩水の湧泉から採取される大鹿村の山塩の謎 |url=http://www.iijan.or.jp/oishii/area/post-1085.php |website=長野県のおいしい食べ方 |date=June 23, 2009 |publisher=JA Nagano Chuoukai}}{{cite book |last1=Matsumae |first1=Takashi |title=日本神話の形成 (Nihon shinwa no keisei) |publisher=Hanawa Shobō|page=431}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Satō|editor1-first=Shigenao|title=南信伊那史料 巻之下 (Nanshin Ina Shiryō, vol. 02)|date=1901|page=55 |url=http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/765237/30}}

The contest between Takemikazuchi and Takeminakata has also been sometimes interpreted as an origin myth for sumo wrestling and aiki.{{cite book|last1=Pate|first1=Alan Scott|title=Ningyo: The Art of the Japanese Doll|date=2013|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1462907205|pages=135–136|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzzRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT136}}{{cite book|editor1-last=Spracklen|editor1-first=Karl|editor2-last=Lashua|editor2-first=Brett|editor3-last=Sharpe|editor3-first=Erin|editor4-last=Swain|editor4-first=Spencer|title=The Palgrave Handbook of Leisure Theory|date=2017|publisher=978-1137564795|pages=173–175|isbn=9781137564795 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_2yDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA173}}{{cite book |last1=Von Krenner |first1=Walther G. |last2=Apodaca |first2=Damon |last3=Jeremiah |first3=Ken |title=Aikido Ground Fighting: Grappling and Submission Techniques |date=2013 |publisher=North Atlantic Books |isbn=978-1583946213 |pages=6–7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fGynTN3nQC4C&pg=PA7}} This interpretation apparently follows an alternative reading of the text which sees Takemikazuchi as not so much crushing and tearing Takeminakata's arm(s) off but seizing him by the arm and throwing him into the ground.

{{see also|Moreya}}

File:Fujishima Shrine (Nakasu, Suwa) - 藤島社（諏訪市中洲）- 2.jpg. It is one of two 'Fujishima Shrines' associated with Suwa Myōjin's battle against Moriya; the other is located in the city of Okaya by the Tenryū River.]]

A myth from the Suwa area portrays Suwa Myōjin as being opposed during his advent by the local god Moriya (Moreya).

A document supposedly submitted to the Kamakura shogunate in 1249 by Suwa Nobushige, then high priest or Ōhōri (大祝) of the Upper Shrine of Suwa, known as the Suwa Nobushige Gejō (諏訪信重解状 "The Petition of Suwa Nobushige"), relates a story from "the ancient customs" (舊貫) that the Suwa deity came down from heaven in order to take possession of the land of 'Moriya Daijin' (守屋大臣). The conflict between the two escalated into a battle, but as no winner could be declared, the two finally compete in a tug of war using hooks (kagi): Suwa Myōjin, using a hook made out of the wisteria plant (藤鎰), emerges victorious against Moriya, who used an iron hook (鐵鎰). After his victory, the god built his dwelling (what would become the Upper Shrine) in Moriya's land and planted the wisteria hook, which became a grove known as the 'Forest of Fujisuwa' (藤諏訪之森 Fujisuwa no mori).{{efn|「一 守屋山麓御垂跡事

右謹檢舊貫、當砌昔者守屋大臣之所領也、大神天降御之刻、大臣者奉禦明神之居住、勵制止之方法、明神者廻可爲御敷地之祕計、或致諍論、或及合戰之處、兩方難決雌雄、爰明神者持藤鎰、大臣者以鐵鎰、懸此所引之、明神即以藤鎰令勝得軍陣之諍論給、而間令追罰守屋大臣、卜居所當社以來、遙送數百歲星霜、久施我神之稱譽天下給、應跡之方々是新哉、明神以彼藤鎰自令植當社之前給、藤榮枝葉號藤諏訪之森、毎年二ヶ度御神事勤之、自尓以來以當郡名諏方、爰下宮者當社依夫婦之契約示姫大明神之名、然而當大明神、若不令追出守屋給者、爭兩者卜居御哉、自天降之元初爲本宮之條炳焉者哉、」}}Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). pp. 811–814.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 92-93.Fukuda; Nihonmatsu; Tokuda, eds. (2015). pp. 121-124. Whereas the Kojiki portrays Takeminakata as an earthly god defeated by a deity from heaven, this myth notably features the opposite scenario, in which the deity of Suwa descends from heaven and conquers the land below.

The Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba relates a variant of this myth as an origin story of Fujishima Shrine (藤島社) in Suwa City, one of the Upper Shrine's auxiliary shrines where its yearly rice-planting ceremony is traditionally held.Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). pp. 681-683.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 88-91. In this version, the deity of Fujishima Shrine (藤島の明神 Fujishima no Myōjin) - usually equated with Suwa Myōjin - defeats "Moriya the evil outlaw" (洩矢の惡賊, Moriya no akuzoku) with a wisteria branch:

{{Quote|Regarding the god of Fujishima [Shrine] (藤島の明神, Fujishima no Myōjin): when the revered deity (尊神, sonjin, i.e. Suwa Daimyōjin) manifested long ago, Moriya the evil outlaw (洩矢の惡賊, Moriya no akuzoku), seeking to hinder him, took up an iron ring (鐵輪) to fight him, but the [Fujishima] deity picked up a wisteria branch and defeated [Moriya]. Finally, he brought down heresy (邪輪, jarin, lit. "ring/wheel/circle of evil") and held up the true Dharma (正法, shōbō). When the god pronounced a vow and threw the wisteria branch away, immediately it took root [in the ground], its branches and leaves flourishing in abundance, and [sprouted] beautiful blossoms, leaving behind a marker of the battleground for posterity. The Fujishima deity is named thus for this reason.{{efn|「抑コノ藤嶋ノ明神ト申ハ、尊神垂迹ノ昔、洩矢ノ惡賊神居ヲサマタケントセシ時、洩矢ハ鐵輪ヲ持シテアラソヒ、明神ハ藤枝ヲトリテ是ヲ伏シ給フ。ツイニ邪輪ヲ降シテ正法ヲ興ス。 明神誓ヲ發テ、藤枝ヲナケ給シカハ、則根ヲサシテ枝葉ヲサカヘ、花蘂アサヤカニシテ、戰場ノシルシヲ萬代ニ殘ス。藤嶋ノ明神ト号スル此ユヘナリ。」}}Kanai (1982). p. 262.Hanawa, ed. (1914). p. 530.}}

File:Fujishima Shrine - 藤島神社 (川岸天竜河畔諏訪明神入諏伝説の地).jpg]]

Two extant medieval genealogies of the Suwa (Miwa) clan also begin by recounting the legend of a battle between the Suwa deity, accompanied by the first high priest of the Upper Shrine, and 'Moriya' (守屋) during the reign of Emperor Yōmei (585-587).Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 690.

In later versions of this story which combine it with the kuni-yuzuri myth, Moriya opposes Takeminakata after the latter had fled from Izumo. After being defeated, Moriya swears fealty to Takeminakata and becomes a faithful ally.Imai (1960). pp. 3-15.Imai (1976). p. 41. Moriya is reckoned as the divine ancestor of the Moriya (守矢) clan, one of the former priestly lineages of the Upper Shrine.Moriya, Sanae (2017). 守矢神長家のお話し (Moriya Jinchōke no ohanashi), in {{cite book |editor=Jinchōkan Moriya Historical Museum |title=神長官守矢史料館のしおり (Jinchōkan Moriya Shiryōkan no shiori)|pages=2–3|publisher=Jinchōkan Moriya Historical Museum|edition=3rd}}

While medieval sources such as Nobushige's petition and the Ekotoba situate the battle between the two gods in the slopes of Mount Moriya somewhere in the vicinity of the Upper Shrine (modern Suwa City), a variant legend first attested in Edo period texts instead place it on the banks of the Tenryū River (modern Okaya City).{{cite journal |author=Yamamoto, Hiroko|title=中世諏訪社の一考察 : 失われた芸能と伝承を求めて (Chūsei Suwa-sha no ikkōsatsu: ushinawareta geinō to denshō o motomete)|journal=Tozai Nanboku: Bulletin of the Wako Institute of Social and Cultural Sciences|year=2016|pages=[29–31] 215–213|url=https://wako.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=4029&file_id=22&file_no=1}}{{cite web |title=洩矢神社 (Moriya Shrine) |url=http://www.nagano-jinjacho.jp/shibu/04nansin/02suwa/4030.html |website=長野県神社庁 (Nagano-ken Jinjachō)}}

File:Tatsuya-Sukura Shrine , 達屋酢蔵神社 - panoramio (1).jpg, associated with the gods Yatsukao (Ganigawara) and Hikosachi in folklore]]

Apart from Moriya, a few scattered local legends make reference to other deities who either submitted to the Suwa deity or refused to do so. One such god that is said to have opposed Suwa Myōjin and his new ally Moriya in local folklore was Yatsukao-no-Mikoto (矢塚男命), also known as Ganigawara (蟹河原長者 Ganigawara-chōja).Kobuzoku Kenkyūkai, ed. (2017b). p 79.{{cite web|title=蟹河原 （茅野市ちの横内）|url=http://tateshina-times.jp/?p=7866|website=たてしなの時間|publisher=蓼科企画}}Shinano-no-kuni Kansha Suwa-jinja Jinchōkan Moriya-ke Ryaku-keizu (信濃國官社諏訪神社神長官守矢家略系圖), in {{cite book|author1=Nobukawa, Kazuhiko (延川和彦)|author2=Iida, Kotaro (飯田好太郎)|title=諏訪氏系図 続編 (Suwa-shi Keizu, Zokuhen)|date=1921|page=19|url=http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/927368/21}}

The story relates that Ganigawara, a horse breeder who wielded great authority in the region, held Moriya in contempt for surrendering to Takeminakata and had messengers publicly harass him by calling him a coward. When Ganigawara's servants began to resort to violence by shooting arrows in Takeminakata's newly built house, Takeminakata retaliated by invading Ganigawara's turf. Mortally wounded by an arrow in the ensuing battle, Ganigawara begs forgiveness from Moriya and entrusts his youngest daughter to Takeminakata, who gives her in marriage to the god Taokihooi-no-Mikoto (手置帆負命) a.k.a. Hikosachi-no-Kami (彦狭知神),{{efn|Both Taokihooi and Hikosachi - identified as two distinct individuals - appear in the Nihon Shoki{{cite wikisource |title=Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |wslink=Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |chapter=Book II |last=Aston |first=William George |authorlink=William George Aston |year=1896 |publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. |location=London |page=81 |scan=Page:Nihongi_by_Aston.djvu/112 |quote=Thereupon Ta-oki-ho-ohi no Kami, ancestor of the Imbe of the Land of Kii, was appointed hatter, Hiko-sachi no Kami was made shield-maker ...}}{{cite wikisource |wslink=zh:日本書紀 |chapter=卷第二 |title=日本書紀 |quote=既以紀伊國忌部遠祖手置帆負神、定爲作笠者。狹知神、爲作盾者。}} and the Kogo Shūi{{cite wikisource |wslink=zh:古語拾遺 |title=古語拾遺 |quote=手置帆負命。_{讚岐國忌部祖也。}產狹知命。_{紀伊國忌部祖也。}}} as ancestors of the Inbe clan (忌部氏).}} who was injured by Ganigawara's messengers as he was keeping watch over Takeminakata's abode.Imai (1960). pp. 42-49.Imai (1976). pp. 46-51.

In another legend, a god named Takei-Ōtomonushi (武居大伴主神 or 武居大友主神) swore allegiance to Takeminakata and became the ancestor of a line of priests in the Lower Shrine known as the Takeihōri (武居祝).Miyasaka (1987). p. 22. Yet another story relates that the Suwa deity forbade the goddess of Sakinomiya Shrine (先宮神社) in Owa, Suwa City from building a bridge over the creek before her shrine as punishment for her refusal to submit to him.{{cite web |title=先宮神社 |url=https://www.jinriki.info/kaidolist/koshukaido/kamisuwa_shimosuwa/sakinomiyajinja.html |website=人力（じんりき）- 旧街道ウォーキング}}

{{see also|Suwa clan}}

File:Japanese crest Suwa Kajinoha(White background).svg) of the Suwa clan, which is also used by the Upper Shrine of Suwa as its emblem.]]

Before the abolition of the Suwa Grand Shrine's traditional priestly offices during the Meiji period, the Upper Shrine of Suwa's high priest or Ōhōri (大祝 'great priest'; also Ōhafuri) was a young boy chosen from the Suwa clan, who was, during his term of office, considered to be a living god, the visible incarnation or 'body' of the unseen god of the shrine.Ihara (2008). pp. 157–185.{{cite book|date=1988|editor1-last=Hall|editor1-first=John Whitney|title=The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 1: Ancient Japan|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521223522|page=343|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3_6lp8IOK8C&pg=PA343}}

The legend of how Suwa Myōjin chose his first priest is recounted in various sources, such as the Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba:

At the beginning of the god's manifestation, he took off his robe, put them on an eight year old boy, and dubbed him 'great priest' (Ōhōri). The god declared, "I do not have a body and so make this priest (hōri) my body."

This [boy] is Arikazu (有員), the priest of the sacred robe (御衣祝 Misogihōri), the founding ancestor of the Miwa/Jin (神, i.e. Suwa) clan.{{efn|「祝は神明の垂迹の初。御衣を八歳の童男にぬぎきせ給ひて。大祝と称し。我において体なし。祝を以て躰とすと神勅ありけり。是則御衣祝有員神氏の始祖なり。」Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba, in Hanawa (1919). pp. 521–522.}}

File:Suwa Daimyōjin - 諏訪大明神.jpg

Although most sources (such as the Ekotoba above) identify the boy with the semi-legendary priest Arikazu, who is said to have lived in the 9th century (early Heian period) during the reign of Emperor Kanmu (781-806) or his immediate successors Heizei (806-809) or Saga (809-823),Suwa Kyōikukai (1938). p. 11.{{in lang|ja}}Miyasaka (1987). p. 35.{{cite web|title=大祝有員 (Ōhōri Arikazu)|url=http://www.city.suwa.lg.jp/scm/dat/nandemo/koumoku/0300/030504.htm|website=Official website of Suwa City {{in lang|ja}}|access-date=May 14, 2017|archive-date=September 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908112038/http://www.city.suwa.lg.jp/scm/dat/nandemo/koumoku/0300/030504.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=諏方氏 (Suwa Clan)|url=http://www.city.suwa.lg.jp/scm/dat/nandemo/koumoku/0300/030503.htm|website=Official website of Suwa City {{in lang|ja}}|access-date=February 16, 2017|archive-date=February 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208132946/http://www.city.suwa.lg.jp/scm/dat/nandemo/koumoku/0300/030503.htm|url-status=dead}} two genealogical lists - of disputed historical reliabilityIhara (2008). pp. 260-262.{{cite web|author=Fukushima, Masaki|title=信濃古代の通史叙述をめぐって (Shinano kodai no tsūshi jojutsu wo megutte)|url=http://user1.matsumoto.ne.jp/~fukusima/yamakawa.htm|website=科野太郎の古代・中世史の部屋|access-date=2017-09-24|archive-date=October 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019150040/http://user1.matsumoto.ne.jp/~fukusima/yamakawa.htm|url-status=dead}} - instead identify the first priest with an individual named Otoei (乙頴) or Kumako (神子 or 熊古), a son of Mase-gimi (麻背君) or Iotari (五百足), head of the Kanasashi clan and kuni no miyatsuko of Shinano during the late 6th century.Miyasaka (1987). pp. 35-36.Miyasaka (1992), pp. 7–11.

One of these two texts is a genealogy of the Aso (阿蘇) clan of Aso Shrine in Kyushu known as the 異本阿蘇氏系図 (Ihon Asoshi Keizu).Kanai, Tenbi (2018). 諏訪信仰の性格とその変遷―諏訪信仰通史 (Suwa shinkō no seikaku to sono hensen: Suwa shinko tsūshi). in Kodai Buzoku Kenkyūkai, ed. pp. 36-38.Ihon Asoshi Keizu, cited in Kanai (1982). p. 109. It reads in part:

Otoei (Ōhōri of the great god of Suwa): also known as Kumako (神子) or Kumako (熊古).

When he was eight years old, the great god Minakatatomi-no-Mikoto appeared, took off his robe and put them on Kumako, declaring, "I do not have a body and so make you my body." In the third month of the second year of Iware Ikebe no Ōmiya (587), a sanctuary (社壇) was built at the foot of the mountain at the southern side of the lake (i.e. Lake Suwa) to worship the great god of Suwa and various other gods ...{{efn|「乙頴 (諏訪大神大祝)：一名神子、又云、熊古　生而八歳、御名方富命大神化現脱着御衣於神子勅曰、吾無体以汝為体、盤余池辺大宮朝二年丁未三月搆壇于湖南山麓、祭諏訪大明神及百八十神、奉千代田刺忌串斎之」}}

The other is the Ōhōri-ke Jinshi Keizu (大祝家神氏系図), a genealogy of the Suwa clan discovered in the Ōhōri's residence in 1884 (Meiji 17).Kanai, Tenbi (2018). Suwa shinkō no seikaku to sono hensen: Suwa shinko tsūshi. in Kodai Buzoku Kenkyūkai, ed. pp. 38-41.Ihara (2008). p. 261.Ōhōri-bon Jinshi Keizu, cited in Kanai (1982). pp. 107, 190. It portrays Arikazu as a descendant of Kumako, the priest chosen by Takeminakata:

When Kumako was eight years old, the revered deity appeared, took off his robe and put them on Kumako. After declaring, "I do not have a body and so make you my body," he disappeared.{{efn|Literally: 'hid himself'}} This [Kumako] is the ancestor of Arikazu of the Miwa/Jin (Suwa) clan, the Misogihōri. In the second year of Emperor Yōmei, Kumako built a sanctuary at the foot of the mountain at the southern side of the lake.

{{efn|「国造九世之孫、五百足、常時敬事于尊神、一日夢有神告、汝妻兄弟部既姙、身分娩必挙于男子、成長欲吾将有憑之、汝宜鍾愛矣夢覚而後、語之妻兄弟部、兄弟部亦同夢恠、且慎、後果而産男子因名神子、亦云熊子、神子八歳之時、尊神化現、脱着御衣於神子、吾無体以汝為体、有神勅隠御体矣、是則御衣着祝神氏有員之始祖也、用命天皇御宇二年、神子搆社壇于湖南山麓、其子神代、其子弟兄子、其子国積、其子猪麿、其子狭田野、其子高牧、亦云豊麿、其子生足、其子繁魚、其子豊足、亦云清主、其子有員、亦云武麿、」}}

A medieval Buddhist legend portrays Suwa Myōjin as a king from India who later achieved enlightenment and went to Japan to become a native kami.

A short text attached to a late 15th century copy of an ordinance regulating the Upper Shrine's ritual purity taboos (物忌み monoimi) originally enforced in 1238 and revised in 1317, the Suwa Kamisha monoimi no rei no koto (諏訪上社物忌令之事),{{cite journal|last1=Takei|first1=Masahiro|title=祭事を読む-諏訪上社物忌令之事- (Saiji wo yomu: Suwa Kamisha monoimi no rei no koto)|journal=飯田市美術博物館 研究紀要 (Bulletin of the Iida City Museum)|date=1999|volume=9|pages=121–144|url=http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110008434555}} relates that 'Takeminakata Myōjin' (武御名方明神) was originally the ruler of a certain Indian kingdom called 'Hadai' (波堤国 Hadai-koku){{efn|This place name appears as one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas in Kumārajīva's translation of the Humane King Sutra.{{cite web|title=十六大国一覧表|url=http://www.sakya-muni.jp/pdf/mono15_s02_hu01.pdf|website=原始仏教聖典資料による釈尊伝の研究 (A Study of the Biography of Sakya-muni Based on the Early Buddhist Scriptural Sources)}}{{cite web|title=佛說仁王般若波羅蜜經 第2卷|url=http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/T08n0245_002|website=CBETA (Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association) 漢文大藏經}}}} who survived an insurrection instigated by a rebel named 'Moriya' (守屋 or 守洩) during the king's absence while the latter was out hunting deer. After going to Persia to rescue its inhabitants from an evil dragon, the king ruled over it for some time as 'Emperor Suwa' (陬波皇帝 Suwa Kōtei) before retiring to "cultivate the seedling of virtue and realize the Buddhist path." He eventually manifested in Japan, appearing in various places before finally choosing to dwell in Suwa.Fukuda; Nihonmatsu; Tokuda, eds. (2015). pp. 114-116.Takei (1999), pp. 129–130.Miyaji (1931b). p. 84.

File:御射山神社鳥居 - panoramio.jpg, Nagano. During the medieval period, the hunting ceremony held at Misayama - Suwa Shrine's sacred hunting ground - was the largest of Suwa's religious ceremonies and one of its most important, attracting thousands of people.]]

The Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba relates a slightly different, fuller version of the first half of this story as an origin myth for the Upper Shrine's hunting ceremony held every seventh month of the year at Misayama (御射山) on the slopes of the Yatsugatake Mountains:

If one should inquire about the origins (因縁 in'en, lit. 'causes and conditions') of this hunt: long ago, the Daimyōjin was the king of the land of Hadai in India who went out to hunt at Deer Park from the twenty-seventh to the thirtieth day of the seventh month. At that time, a traitorous vassal named Bikyō (美教) suddenly organized an army and sought to kill the king. The king, ringing a golden bell, looked up to heaven and shouted eight times: "I am now about to be killed by this rebel. I have hunted animals, not for my own enjoyment, but in order to lead them to the Buddhist path. If this my action is in accordance with Heaven's will, may Brahmā save me."

Brahmā then saw this and commanded the four great deva-kings to wield vajra-poles and destroy the army. It is said that the Misayama (三齋山) of today reflects that event.
... One should know, therefore, that the deity's compassionate hunting is an expedient means for the salvation of creatures.Translation based on Grumbach (2005). p. 210.

Regarding the Upper Shrine's hunting rituals, the Monoimi no rei asserts that

[The shrine's] hunts began in the deer park of Hadai-no-kuni [in India]. [The use of] hawks began in Magada-no-kuni.Grumbach (2005). p. 206.

File:Shaka Nyorai.jpg (pictured)]]

The second half of the legend (the slaying of the dragon in Persia and the king's migration to Japan) is used by the Ekotoba's compiler, Suwa Enchū, in a liturgical text, the Suwa Daimyōjin Kōshiki (諏方大明神講式),諏方大明神講式 (Suwa Daimyōjin Kōshiki), in {{cite book|editor1-last=Takeuchi|editor1-first=Hideo|title=神道大系 神社編30 諏訪 (Shintō Taikei, Jinja-hen vol. 30: Suwa)|date=1982|publisher=Shintō Taikei Hensankai}}{{cite web|title=諏方大明神講式 (Suwa Daimyōjin Kōshiki)|url=http://base1.nijl.ac.jp/iview/Frame.jsp?DB_ID=G0003917KTM&C_CODE=KSRM-287105&IMG_SIZE=&PROC_TYPE=null&SHOMEI=%E3%80%90%E8%AB%8F%E6%96%B9%E5%A4%A7%E6%98%8E%EF%A8%99%E8%AC%9B%E5%BC%8F%E3%80%91&REQUEST_MARK=null&OWNER=null&IMG_NO=4|website=国文学研究資料館 (National Institute of Japanese Literature)}} where it is introduced as an alternative, if somewhat less credible, account of the Suwa deity's origins (in comparison to the myth of Takeminakata of Izumo as found in the Kuji Hongi, touted by the same text as the authoritative origin story of the god) that nevertheless should not be suppressed.Fukuda; Nihonmatsu; Tokuda, eds. (2015). p. 116. In this text, the king of Hadai is claimed to be a great-great-grandson of King Siṃhahanu (獅子頬王 Shishikyō-ō), Gautama Buddha's grandfather.Fukuda; Nihonmatsu; Tokuda, eds. (2015). p. 115. Bikyō, the rebel who raised up an army against the king in India - identified as an incarnation of the Demon King (魔王) - is also said to have eventually manifested in Japan, opposing the deity in Suwa as "Moriya the evil outlaw."Fukuda; Nihonmatsu; Tokuda, eds. (2015). pp. 114-115.

A similar account appears in a work known as the Suwa Jinja Engi (諏訪神社縁起) or Suwa Shintō Engi (諏訪神道縁起),Suwa Jinja Engi (諏訪神社縁起 上下卷), in {{cite book |editor1-last=Suwa Kyōikukai |title=諏訪史料叢書 巻26 (Suwa Shiryō Soshō, vol. 26) |date=1937 |publisher=Suwa Kōikukai |pages=54–64 |url=http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1185900/41}} wherein the Suwa deity is identified as the son of Kibonnō (貴飯王), the son of Amṛtodana (甘呂飯王 Kanrobonnō), one of Siṃhahanu's four sons. The Lower Shrine's goddess, meanwhile, is the daughter of Prasenajit (波斯匿王 Hashinoku-ō), claimed here to be the son of Dronodana (黒飯王 Kokubonnō), another son of Siṃhananu.Miyaji (1931b). p. 85.

During the Misayama festival as performed during the medieval period, the Ōhōri recited a ritual declaration supposedly composed by the Suwa deity himself known as the Suwa Mishirushibumi (陬波御記文),Text and commentary in Kanai (1982). pp. 162-172. which begins:

I, Great King Suwa (陬波大王), have hidden my person during [the year/month/day of] the Yang Wood Horse (甲午 kinoe-uma).

[The name] 'Suwa' (陬波) and [the sign] Yang Wood Horse [and] the seal (印文){{efn|The 'seal' referred to here is interpreted to be either the Upper Shrine's sacred seal made of deer antlerKanai (1982). p. 167. or the Mishirushibumi itself.Fukuda; Nihonmatsu; Tokuda, eds. (2015). pp. 117-118.}} - these three are all one and the same.{{efn|「陬波大王　限甲午隠身、陬波与甲午　印文同一物三名。」Kanai (1982). p. 163.}}

File:Yabusame00.jpg archers in hunting gear, Edo period]]

Within the text, King Suwa (i.e. Suwa Myōjin) declares the Ōhōri to be his 'true body' (真神体 shin no shintai) and the Misayama (三斎山) hunting grounds below Yatsugatake (here likened to Vulture Peak in India) to be another manifestation of himself that cleanses (斎) the three (三) evils: evil thoughts, evil speech and evil actions.Fukuda; Nihonmatsu; Tokuda, eds. (2015). pp. 119-120.Kanai (1982). pp. 168-169. He promises that whoever sets foot at Misayama will not fall into the lower, evil realms of existence (悪趣 akushu); conversely, the god condemns and disowns whoever defiles the hunting grounds by cutting down its trees or digging out the soil.Kanai (1982). p. 169.

A commentary on the Mishirushibumi, the Suwa Shichū (陬波私注 "Personal Notes on the Suwa Mishirusibumi," written 1313–1314),Text and commentary in Kanai (1982). pp. 173-187. elaborates on the text by retelling the legend of Suwa Myōjin's consecration of his first priest:

The Daimyōjin was born during [the year/month/day of] the Yang Wood Horse and disappeared during [the year/month/day of] the Yang Wood Horse.

Sokutan Daijin (続旦大臣) was the Daimyōjin's uncle who accompanied him from India. When the Daimyōjin was to disappear, he took off his garments, put them on the Daijin, and dubbed him the Misogihōri (御衣木法理). He then pronounced a vow: "You shall consider this priest to be my body."{{efn|「一、大明神甲午_仁有御誕生甲午_仁隠御身給_フ

一、続旦（ソクタン）大臣ト申ハ大明神ノ叔父御前自_リ天竺御同道、大明神御体_ヲ隠_サセ給_シ時御装束ヲ奉抜著（ヌキキセ）彼大臣給テ号御衣木（ミソキ）法理ト 我之躰以法理ヲ躰トセヨトハ誓給_シ也」Kanai (1982). pp. 173-174.}}

The same text identifies the god's uncle Sokutan Daijin with Arikazu.Fukuda; Nihonmatsu; Tokuda, eds. (2015). pp. 117, 119.Kanai (1982). pp. 176-177.{{efn|「一、御衣木法理殿御実名_ハ者有員_云〻」Kanai (1982). p. 175.}}

File:Kawazugari (Frog Hunting) Ritual - 蛙狩神事.jpg

Two texts, the Monoimi no reiKanai (1982). pp. 165.Takei (1999), p. 134. and the Suwa Shichū (陬波私注 "Personal Notes on the Suwa Mishirusibumi," written 1313–1314), mention an oral legend about Suwa Myōjin pacifying the waves of the four seas by subduing an unruly frog god.

Suwa (陬波) should be read as "the waves are calm." When a frog god (蝦蟆神), being a harmful god (荒神 kōjin), caused suffering to the realm, the Daimyōjin quelled it and came to reside here; [because] the four seas were calm, it is called Suwa.{{efn|「一、陬波_ト申事_{ナミシツカナリトヨメリ}　蝦蟆_カニタ神^{カエルノ事ナリ}荒神惱_ト天下時、大明神退治之御坐時 四海静謐之間 陬波_卜云〻 口傅在之」}}Translation from Grumbach (2005). p. 172.

After defeating this frog, Suwa Myōjin then blocked the way to its dwelling - a hole leading to the underwater palace of the dragon god of the sea, the Ryūgū-jō - with a rock and sat on it.Kanai (1982). pp. 165, 177-179.Takei (1999), p. 136-137.

This story functions as an etiological legend for the annual sacrifice of frogs held every New Year's Day in the Upper Shrine (see below)Miyasaka (1992). p. 20 as well as yet another folk etymology for the toponym 'Suwa' (rendered here as 陬波), here explained as deriving either from a term for a wave lapping onto the sea's edgeKanai (1982). pp. 177-178. or a reference to the deity's pacification of the waters: "the waves are calm."Grumbach (2005). p. 172.

The portrayal of Suwa Myōjin's enemy as a frog also hints at the deity's character as a serpentine water god. (As a point of comparison, the obscure snake god Ugajin was also credited with defeating a malevolent frog deity.{{cite book|last1=Hara|first1=Naomasa|title=龍蛇神: 諏訪大明神の中世的展開 (Ryūjashin: Suwa Daimyōjin no chūseiteki tenkai)|date=2012|publisher=Ningensha|isbn=978-4931388710|pages=40–41|language=ja}}) The frog god itself has been interpreted either as representing the native deities Mishaguji and/or Moriya, with its defeat symbolizing the victory of the cult of Suwa Myōjin over the indigenous belief system,Takei (1999). pp. 137-138.Kanai (1982). p. 68. or as a symbol of the Buddhist concept of the three poisons (ignorance, greed, and hatred), which Suwa Myōjin, as an incarnation of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, his esoteric aspect Vajrasattva and the Wisdom King Trailokyavijaya (interpreted as a manifestation of Vajrasattva), is said to destroy.

File:Suwa taisha Kamisha Honmiya , 諏訪大社 上社 本宮 - panoramio (30).jpg with a dragon-shaped spout, Kamisha Honmiya]]

Folk belief has long held the god of Suwa Shrine to assume the form of a serpent or dragon. Consequently, the deity appears as such in a number of folktales and anecdotes.

In one such story, Suwa Myōjin once came to Izumo Province in the form of a dragon so gigantic that only his head can be seen; his tail was still at Suwa, caught in a tall pine tree by the shores of the lake. The other gods, upon seeing him, were so astounded and frightened at his enormous size that they exempted him from attending their yearly meetings.Matsutani, Miyoko (1960). Shinano no minwa (信濃の民話). Miraisha. p. 48, cited in Kanai (1982). p. 7.{{cite web|title=Shinano no kuni no Kannazuki (信濃の国の神無月)|url=http://minwa.fujipan.co.jp/area/nagano_012/|website=Fuji Baking Co., Ltd.|access-date=January 5, 2017|archive-date=January 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105180141/http://minwa.fujipan.co.jp/area/nagano_012/|url-status=dead}} Thus, the deity of Suwa is claimed to be one of the very few kami in Japan who do not leave their shrines during the month of Kannazuki, when most gods are thought to gather at Izumo and thus are absent from most of the country. The supposed tree where the dragon's tail was caught (currently reduced to a stump) is locally known as {{nihongo|Okakematsu|尾掛松}}.{{cite web|title=Okakematsu (尾掛松)|url=http://suwaarea-examine.com/okakematu.html|website=Mahoroba Suwa-ken (まほろば諏訪圏)|access-date=2015-01-05}}

A variant of this story transposes the setting from Izumo to the Imperial Palace in Kyoto; in this version, the various kami are said to travel to the ancient capital every New Year's Day to greet the emperor.Ōbayashi, Taryō (1987). "Seikūkan no kōsei genri. Bunka-jinruigaku no shiten kara (聖空間の構成原理―文化人類学の視点から)." In {{cite book|author1=Ueda|author2=Gorai|author3=Ōbayashi|author4=Miyasaka, M.|author5=Miyasaka, Y.|title=Onbashira-sai to Suwa-taisha|pages=97–98}}

Another popular story promulgated by wandering preachers associated with the shrines of Suwa during the medieval period claimed the Suwa deity to have originally been Kōga Saburō, a warrior who temporarily became a dragon or a snake after a journey into the underworld.Miyasaka (1987). pp. 51-54.{{cite book|author1=John Breen|author2=Mark Teeuwen|title=Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MADlfH002mAC&pg=PA35|date=January 2000|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-2363-4|page=35}}{{cite book|author=Carmen Blacker|title=The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mR6PAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA134|date=2 August 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1-135-31872-7}}Kanai (1982). pp. 278–317.

File:180205 Lake Suwa omiwatari 03.jpg

Cracks and ridges that form on a frozen Lake Suwa during cold winters have traditionally been interpreted as the trail left behind by Suwa Myōjin as he leaves the Upper Shrine and crosses the lake to meet his wife enshrined on the Lower Shrine on the opposite (northern) shore.{{cite book|author=Japan. Dept. of railways|title=The Hot Springs of Japan (and the Principal Cold Springs) Including Chosen (Korea) Taiwan (Formosa) South Manchuria, Together with Many Tables Giving Classification, Chemical Basis, Curative Values, Radio-activity, Etc. 196 Illustrations, 15 Maps, Specially Drawn, 2 Colored Lithographs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=smA0AAAAMAAJ|year=1922|page=194}} Called Omiwatari (御神渡 'the god's crossing' or 'the god's pathway'), the cracks were considered to be a good omen for the coming year.{{cite news|title=Ice phenomenon warms up hearts in the Lake Suwa region|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/03/03/national/ice-phenomenon-warms-up-hearts-in-the-lake-suwa-region/#.WRpvc9SLRRA|agency=The Japan Times|date=2012-03-03}} The priests of the Grand Shrine of Suwa traditionally used the crack's appearance to divine the quality of the year's harvest.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 38-40. For the locals, the crack also served as a sign that the frozen lake was safe to walk upon.{{cite web|last1=Brazil|first1=Mark|title=Omi-watari|url=http://www.japanvisitor.com/about-japan/omi-watari|website=Japan Visitor}}Miyasaka (1992). p. 42. Conversely, the omiwatari's failure to appear at all (明海 ake no umi) or the cracks forming in an unusual way were held to be a sign of bad luck for the year.

Since the late 20th century, the omiwatari has become a much rarer sight than it was in the past due to rising temperatures caused by global warming.{{cite book|editor1-last=Ichikawa|editor1-first=Atsunobu|title=Global Warming — The Research Challenges: A Report of Japan's Global Warming Initiative|date=2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1402029417|pages=34–35|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uXNHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT34}}{{cite web|last1=Borre|first1=Lisa|title=Lake Suwa's Shinto Legend and the Oldest Lake Ice Record on Earth: What It Tells Us About Climate Change and Variability|url=http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/26/lake-suwas-shinto-legend-and-the-oldest-lake-ice-record-on-earth-what-it-tells-us-about-climate-change-and-variability/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426213200/http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/26/lake-suwas-shinto-legend-and-the-oldest-lake-ice-record-on-earth-what-it-tells-us-about-climate-change-and-variability/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 26, 2016|website=National Geographic|date=August 30, 2023 }}

File:Sakanoue Tamuramaro sw.jpg is credited with instituting the religious festivities of Suwa Shrine after the god of Suwa came to his aid against the Emishi peoples.]]

Suwa Myōjin is also considered to be a god of war, one of a number of such deities in the Japanese pantheon. The Ryōjin Hishō compiled in 1179 (the late Heian period) also attest to the worship of the god of Suwa in the capacity of god of warfare at the time of its compilation, naming the shrine of Suwa among famous shrines to martial deities in the eastern half of the country.{{Blockquote|text=These gods of war live east of the barrier:{{efn|During the Heian period, the expression 'east of the barrier' (関の東 seki-no-hi(n)gashi, whence derives the term 関東 Kantō) referred to the provinces beyond the checkpoints or barrier stations (関 seki) at the eastern fringes of the capital region, more specifically the land east of the checkpoint at Ōsaka/Ausaka Hill (逢坂 'hill of meeting', old orthography: Afusaka; not to be confused with the modern city of Osaka) in modern Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture.{{cite book|last1=Marshall|first1=Yuko|title=Heterogeneous Japan: The Cultural Distinctions Between Western and Eastern Japan|date=2008|page=6|isbn=9780549562146|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8EdvhO4Xkn4C&pg=PA6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215161620/https://books.google.com/books?id=8EdvhO4Xkn4C&pg=PA6|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 15, 2017}} By the Edo period, Kantō was reinterpreted to mean the region east of the checkpoint in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture.}}

Kashima, Katori, Suwa no Miya, and Hira Myōjin;

also Su in Awa, Otaka Myōjin in Tai no Kuchi,

Yatsurugi in Atsuta, and Tado no Miya in Ise.|title=Ryōjin Hishō|source=song 258{{cite book|last1=Kim|first1=Yung-Hee|title=Songs to Make the Dust Dance: The Ryōjin Hishō of Twelfth-century Japan|date=1994|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-08066-9|pages=144–145a|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SFlSLX-nCeEC&pg=PA144}} {{efn|「関より東(ひむかし)の軍神(いくさがみ)、鹿島・香取(かんどり)・諏訪の宮、また比良(ひら)の明神、安房の洲(す)滝(たい)の口や小鷹明神、熱田に八剣(やつるぎ)、伊勢には多度(たど)の宮。」}}}}

During the medieval period, legends claiming Suwa Myōjin to have appeared and provided assistance to eminent figures such as Empress JingūOta (1926). pp. 160-164. or the general Sakanoue no Tamuramaro諏訪大明神秋山祭の事 (Suwa Daimyōjin Akiyama-sai no koto), in Kishi (1967). pp. 49–56.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=szAABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA526|title=A History of Japanese Literature, Volume 3: The High Middle Ages|last1=Konishi|first1=Jin'ichi|date=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1400861828|page=526}}Fukuda; Nihonmatsu; Tokuda, eds. (2015). pp. 124-127. during their respective military campaigns circulated.

The god of Suwa was also credited with the attempted Mongol invasions of Japan under Kublai Khan. The Taiheiki recounts a story where a five-colored cloud resembling a serpent (a manifestation of the god) rose up from Lake Suwa and spread away westward to assist the Japanese army against the Mongols.De Visser (1913). p. 202.Ōbayashi (1987). p. 96.

On the seventh day, when the Imperial devotions were completed, from Lake Suwa there arose a cloud of many colours, in shape like a great serpent, which spread away towards the west. The doors of the Temple-treasury of Hachiman flew open, and the skies were filled with a sound of galloping horses and of ringing bits. In the twenty-one shrines of Yoshino the brocade-curtained mirrors moved, the swords of the Temple-treasury put on a sharp edge, and all the shoes offered to the god turned towards the west. At Sumiyoshi sweat poured from below the saddles of the four horses sacred to the deities, and the iron shields turned of themselves and faced the enemy in a line.{{cite web|title=太平記 巻第三十九|url=http://j-texts.com/taihei/tk39.html|website=J-TEXTS 日本文学電子図書館|date=December 30, 2020|access-date=June 10, 2017|archive-date=March 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312033811/http://j-texts.com/taihei/tk39.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last1=Aston|first1=William George|title=A History of Japanese Literature|date=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1108081061|page=181|edition=reprint|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xxxoBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA181}}

Image:Ono-Yasumaro.jpg, the compiler of the Kojiki]]

Takeminakata's abrupt appearance in the Kojiki's version of the kuni-yuzuri myth has long puzzled scholars, as the god is mentioned nowhere else in the work, including the genealogy of Ōkuninushi's progeny that precedes the kuni-yuzuri narrative proper.Chamberlain (1882). [http://sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj033.htm Section XXVI.—The Deities the August Descendants of the Deity Master-of-the-Great-Land.] Aside from the parallel account contained in the Kuji Hongi (which was itself based on the KojikiSuwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). pp. 684-685, 687.), he is altogether absent from the Nihon Shoki's version of the myth.{{cite wikisource |Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |chapter=Book II |author=Aston, William George |date=1896 |pages=68–70}}Miyasaka (1987). p. 18. Early documents from Izumo such as the province's Fudoki also fail to mention any god named '(Take)minakata', nor is there apparently any sign of Takeminakata worship in Izumo in antiquity.

Pre-modern authors such as Motoori Norinaga tended to explain Takeminakata's absence outside of the Kojiki and the Kuji Hongi by conflating the god with certain obscure deities found in other sources thought to share certain similar characteristics (e.g. Isetsuhiko).Motoori, Norinaga (1937). [http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1109355/81 古事記傳 (Kojiki-den), vol. 14] in Motoori Toyokai (ed.), 本居宣長全集 (Motoori Norinaga Zenshū), vol. 2. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan. pp. 683–684. (Original work written 1764–1798) While a few modern scholars still suppose some kind of indirect connection between the deity and Izumo by postulating that Takeminakata's origins lie either in peoples that migrated from Izumo northwards to Suwa and the Hokuriku regionMuraoka (1969). pp. 60-66. or in Hokuriku itself (the ancient province of Koshi, a region apparently once under Izumo's sphere of influence as can be inferred from the myth of Ōkuninushi's marriage to Nunakawahime),Kanai (1982). pp. 8-9. others instead propose that the connection between Takeminakata and Izumo is an artificial construct by the Kojiki's compilers.{{cite book|author=Matsumae, Takeshi|title=Nihon shinwa no nazo ga yoku wakaru hon (日本神話の謎がよく分かる本)|date=2007|publisher=Daiwa Shobō (大和書房)|isbn=978-4-479-39166-1|pages=136–137}}Miyaji (1931). pp. 90-101.

The contest between Takeminakata and Takemikazuchi - an element absent in other versions of the kuni-yuzuri myth cycle - is often explained as being either a new myth invented to serve the interests of the imperial court and the Fujiwara clan, descendants of the Nakatomi clan that had worshiped Takemikazuchi as a patron deity (indeed, in other versions it is the god Futsunushi that takes center stage rather than Takemikazuchi, who is believed to have taken on Futsunushi's roles and attributes after the Nakatomi rose to power{{cite web |last1=Kadoya |first1=Atsushi |title=Futsunushi |url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=54 |website=Encyclopedia of Shinto |publisher=Kokugakuin University |access-date=2019-07-08}}), or an adaptation/reversal of a myth concerning a battle between an interloping god and a local deity preserved in the Suwa region (see below), with Takeminakata (the invading conqueror in Suwa myth) being recast into the role of the subjugated earthly kami.Miyasaka (1987). pp. 30-33.

File:Yasaka-no-Suzu - 八栄の鈴.jpg reputed in legend to have been brought to Suwa by Suwa Myōjin. In actuality, the bells date from the early Heian period.]]

The myth of Takeminakata's (Suwa Myōjin's) arrival in Suwa and his defeat of the god Moriya has been interpreted as the mythicization of a historical event in which a local lineage of chieftains who ruled the Suwa area was subjugated by invading outsiders, who subsequently set themselves up as the new rulers of the region - all the while still retaining the subjugated clan in an important position as the wielder of spiritual and ritual authority. This theory explains the relation between the Suwa (Miwa/Jin) and Moriya priestly families of the Upper Shrine of Suwa as that of the Moriya clan being the regional power supplanted by the newly arrived Miwa (Suwa) clan.

File:Ina Valley Relief Map, SRTM.jpg can be seen at top right.]]

While one theory places this event during the end of the Jōmon period, thus portraying the new arrivals as agrarian Yayoi tribes who came into conflict with indigenous Jōmon hunter-gatherers,{{cite journal|last1=Tanaka|first1=Atsuko|script-title=ja:古社叢の「聖地」の構造（3）─諏訪大社の場合|journal=Journal of Kyoto Seika University|pages=122–123|url=http://www.kyoto-seika.ac.jp/researchlab/wp/wp-content/uploads/kiyo/pdf-data/no39/tanaka_atsuko.pdf|language=ja|access-date=November 9, 2019|archive-date=July 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722115610/https://www.kyoto-seika.ac.jp/researchlab/wp/wp-content/uploads/kiyo/pdf-data/no39/tanaka_atsuko.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite AV media|title=古代史ミステリー 「御柱」～最後の"縄文王国"の謎～ (Kodaishi Mystery. Onbashira: Saigo no Jōmon-ōkoku no nazo)|medium=Documentary|publisher=NHK|location=Japan|date=2016|url=http://www.nhk.or.jp/docudocu/program/46/2586790/|language=ja|access-date=November 9, 2019|archive-date=July 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708025134/http://www.nhk.or.jp/docudocu/program/46/2586790/|url-status=dead}} others instead propose this conflict to have taken place during the late Kofun period (late 6th-early 7th century), when keyhole-shaped burial mounds containing equestrian gear as grave goods - up to this point found mainly in the Shimoina region southwest of Suwa - begin to appear in the Lake Suwa area, replacing the kind of burial that had been common in the region since the early 5th century. This theory thus supposes these migrants to have been a clan allied with the Yamato kingdom that specialized in horse breeding and horseback riding. Indeed, the Yamato polity showed strong interest to Shinano because of its suitability as a place for grazing and breeding horses and considered it a strategic base for conquering the eastern regions.Miyasaka (1987). pp. 18-22.Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 692.{{cite book |last1=Terada |first1=Shizuko |last2=Washio |first2=Tetsuta |title=諏訪明神―カミ信仰の原像 (Suwa Myōjin: Kami shinkō no genzō)|date=2010 |publisher=Iwata Shoin |pages=64–67, 134–136}}Oh (2011). pp. 156-157, 161-162, 176. This clan, the Miwa (Suwa), is thought to be related to either the Kanasashi clan (金刺氏), an offshoot of a local magnate clan (kuni no miyatsuko) that later became the high priestly family of the Lower Shrine of Suwa,Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). pp. 615-623, 686-696. or the Miwa (Ōmiwa) clan (三輪氏) originally based on the area around Mount Miwa in Yamato Province.Terada; Washio (2010). pp. 136-138. The theory suggests based on archaeological evidence that the Miwa (Suwa) came to the Suwa Basin from Shimoina, making their way northwards along the Tenryū River.Terada; Washio (2010). pp. 66-67, 134-136. In conjunction with this hypothesis, it is pointed out that in the Nobushige Gejō (believed to be the earliest attestation of this myth), the Suwa deity is said to have descended from heaven bringing with him bells, a mirror, a saddle and a bridle.Grumbach (2005). p. 188.Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 683.Miyasaka (1987). p. 33.

File:Mononobe no Moriya.jpg]]

This theory that the legend of the Suwa deity's victory over Moriya reflects historical fact has recently come into question. Due to similarities between certain variants of this myth and medieval legends surrounding Prince Shōtoku's defeat of Mononobe no Moriya (e.g. Shōtoku's and Suwa Myōjin's opponents both being named 'Moriya', the deity's manifestation and the foundation of the Upper Shrine being dated to the year 587 - the same year as the battle between the Soga and the Mononobe clans - in some texts), some see the myth as being highly influenced by such stories about Shōtoku (so Ihara, 2008),Ihara (2008). p. 161-162. while others regard it as an outright invention modeled on these legends (Harada, 2018).Harada (2018) p. 81. Aoki (2012) theorizes that the myth developed somewhere during the late Heian and early Kamakura periods, when the deity of Suwa came to be venerated as a warrior god, and cautions against uncritical application of this story to known archaeological data.Aoki (2012). pp. 26-31.

While the Kojiki does not yet explicitly mention the worship of Takeminakata in Suwa, by the following century, we see the name applied to the god worshipped in what is now the Grand Shrine of Suwa: aside from the Kuji Hongi's (807-936 CE) reference to Takeminakata being enshrined in 'Suwa Shrine in Suwa District' the Shoku Nihon Kōki mentions the deity 'Minakatatomi-no-Kami of Suwa District, Shinano Province' (信濃国諏訪郡 ... 南方刀美神) being promoted from rankless (无位) to junior fifth rank, lower grade (従五位下) by the imperial court in the year 842 CE (Jōwa 9).{{efn|「丁未。奉授信濃國諏方郡无位勳八等南方刀美神從五位下。」}}{{cite web|title=續日本後紀|url=http://www.j-texts.com/chuko/shokukouki.html|website=J－TEXTS 日本文学電子図書館|access-date=May 18, 2017|archive-date=May 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520072353/http://www.j-texts.com/chuko/shokukouki.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite wikisource |chapter=卷第十一 |wslink=zh:續日本後紀 |plaintitle=Shoku Nihon Kōki (續日本後紀)}}{{cite web|title=南方刀美神社二座（建御名方富命神）|url=http://21coe.kokugakuin.ac.jp/db/jinja/kindex2.php?J_ID=240101|website=神社資料データベース (Shinto Jinja Database)|publisher=Kokugakuin University}}Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 689.

During the 850-60s, Takeminakata and his shrine rose very rapidly in rank (Montoku Jitsuroku, Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku), being promoted to the rank of junior fifth, upper grade (従五位上) in 850 (Kashō 3),{{efn|「己未。信濃國御名方富命神、健御名方富命前八坂刀賣命神、並加從五位上。」}}{{cite wikisource |chapter=卷第二 |wslink=zh:日本文德天皇實錄 |plaintitle=Nihon Montoku Tennō Jitsuroku (日本文德天皇實錄)}} to junior third (従三位) in 851 (Ninju 1),{{efn|「乙丑。進信濃國建御名方富命、前八坂刀賣命等兩大神階、加從三位。」}}{{cite wikisource |chapter=卷第三 |wslink=zh:日本文德天皇實錄 |plaintitle=Nihon Montoku Tennō Jitsuroku (日本文德天皇實錄)}} to junior (従二位){{efn|「廿七日甲申。 (...) 信濃國正三位勳八等建御名方冨命神從二位。」}} and then senior second (正二位){{efn|「十一日丁酉。(...) 授信濃國從二位勳八等建御名方富命神正二位。」}} in 859 (Jōgan 1),{{cite wikisource |chapter=卷第十 |wslink=zh:日本三代實錄 |plaintitle=Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku (日本三代實錄)}} and finally to junior first rank (従一位) in 867 (Jōgan 9).{{efn|「十一日辛亥。信濃國正二位勳八等建御名方富命神進階從一位。」}}{{cite wikisource |chapter=卷第十四 |wslink=zh:日本三代實錄 |plaintitle=Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku (日本三代實錄)}} The influence of the Kanasashi-no-toneri clan is thought to be behind the deity's sudden progress in rank.Ōwa (1990). p. 221-223.

After a few decades, the 'Register of Deities' (神名帳 Jinmyōchō) section of the Engishiki (927) speaks of the 'Minakatatomi Shrine(s)' (南方刀美神社) as enshrining two deities and being the two major ('eminent') shrines of Suwa district.{{efn|「諏方郡_{二座 並大} 南方刀美神社_{二座 名神大}」}}{{cite web|title=Engishiki, vol. 10 (延喜式 第十巻)|url=https://jhti.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/jhti/image.cgi?page=9&kan=10&honname=3|website=Japanese Historical Text Initiative (JHTI)|access-date=2019-08-23}} By 940 (Tengyō 3), the deity had been promoted to the highest rank of senior first (正一位).{{cite web|title=社家の姓氏-諏訪氏-|url=http://www.harimaya.com/o_kamon1/syake/middle/s_suwa.html|website=播磨屋 (www.harimaya.com)}}

File:Suwa taisha akimiya01bs3200.jpg

Suwa Myōjin's spouse is the goddess {{nihongo|Yasakatome-no-Kami|八坂刀売神}}, most often considered to be the deity of the Lower Shrine of Suwa or the Shimosha.Muraoka (1969). pp. 5–6. Unlike the relatively well-documented Suwa Kamisha, very little concrete information is available regarding the origins of the Shimosha and its goddess.Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 696.

Yasakatome's first historical attestation is in the Shoku Nihon Kōki, where the goddess is given the rank of junior fifth, lower grade (従五位下) by the imperial court in the tenth month of Jōwa 9 (842 CE), five months after the same rank was conferred on Takeminakata.{{efn|「奉授安房國從五位下安房大神正五位下。无位第一后神天比理刀咩命神。信濃國无位健御名方富命前八坂刀賣神。阿波國无位葦稻葉神。越後國无位伊夜比古神。常陸國无位筑波女大神竝從五位下。」}}{{cite web|title=南方刀美神社二座（八坂刀売命神）|url=http://21coe.kokugakuin.ac.jp/db/jinja/kindex2.php?J_ID=240201|website=神社資料データベース (Shinto Jinja Database)|publisher=Kokugakuin University}} As Takeminakata rose up in rank, so did Yasakatome,Miyasaka (1987). pp. 37-38. so that by 867 CE, Yasakatome had been promoted to senior second (正二位). The goddess was finally promoted to senior first rank (正一位) in 1074 (Jōhō 1).

Stories and claims about the goddess are diverse and contradictory. Regarding her parentage for instance, the lore of Kawaai Shrine (川会神社) in Kitaazumi District identifies Yasakatome as the daughter of Watatsumi, god of the sea,{{cite web|title=八坂刀売神（ヤサカトメノカミ|url=http://japangod.dip.jp/%E5%85%AB%E5%9D%82%E5%88%80%E5%A3%B2%E7%A5%9E.html|website=日本の神様辞典 (Nihon no Kamisama Jiten)|access-date=May 27, 2017|archive-date=June 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625160608/http://japangod.dip.jp/%E5%85%AB%E5%9D%82%E5%88%80%E5%A3%B2%E7%A5%9E.html|url-status=dead}}

which has been seen as hinting to a connection between the goddess and the seafaring Azumi clan (安曇氏).Miyasaka (1987). p. 39. Another claim originating from sources dating from the Edo period is that Yasakatome was the daughter of Ame-no-yasakahiko (天八坂彦命), a god recorded in the Kuji Hongi as one of the companions of Nigihayahi-no-Mikoto when the latter came down from heaven.{{cite book|last1=Ponsonby-Fane|first1=R. A. B.|title=Studies in Shinto & Shrines|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1136893018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UVO4AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT148}}{{cite web|title=先代舊事本紀卷第三 天神本紀|url=https://miko.org/~uraki/kuon/furu/text/sendaikuji/sendaikuji03.htm|website=私本 先代舊事本紀}}

The ice cracks that appear on Lake Suwa during cold winters, the omiwatari (see above) are reputed in folklore to be caused by Suwa Myōjin's crossing the frozen lake to visit Yasakatome.

The Kōga Saburō legend identifies the goddess of the Shimosha with Saburō's wife, whose name is given in some variants of the story as 'Princess Kasuga' (春日姫 Kasuga-hime).諏訪縁起の事 (Suwa engi-no-koto) in {{cite book|author=Kishi, Shōzō (trans.)|title=Shintōshū (神道集)|series=Tōyō Bunko (東洋文庫) vol. 94|date=1967|publisher=Heibonsha|isbn=978-4-582-80094-4|pages=238–286}}Kanai (1982). p. 17.

In Suwa, a number of local deities are popularly considered to be the children of Suwa Myōjin and his consort. Ōta (1926) lists the following gods:Ōta (1926). pp. 44–45.

File:Suwa taisha Kamisha Honmiya , 諏訪大社 上社 本宮 - panoramio (19).jpg in the Kamisha Honmiya dedicated to the god Izuhayao (出早雄命), believed to be one of Suwa Myōjin's offspring]]

• Hikokamiwake-no-Mikoto (彦神別命)
• Tatsuwakahime-no-Kami (多都若姫神)
• Taruhime-no-Kami (多留姫神)
• Izuhayao-no-Mikoto (伊豆早雄命)
• Tateshina-no-Kami (建志名神)
• Tsumashinahime-no-Kami (妻科姫神)
• Ikeno'o-no-Kami (池生神)
• Tsumayamizuhime-no-mMikoto (都麻屋美豆姫命)
• Yakine-no-Mikoto (八杵命)
• Suwa-wakahiko-no-Mikoto (洲羽若彦命)
• Katakurabe-no-Mikoto (片倉辺命)
• Okihagi-no-Mikoto (興波岐命)
• Wakemizuhiko-no-Mikoto (別水彦命)
• Moritatsu-no-Kami (守達神)
• Takamori-no-kami (高杜神)
• Enatakemimi-no-Mikoto (恵奈武耳命)
• Okutsuiwatate-no-Kami (奥津石建神)
• Ohotsuno-no-Kami (竟富角神)
• Ōkunugi-no-Kami (大橡神)

{{see also|Suwa clan}}

File:Jinchoukan-Moriya-shiryoukan_Oohouri-bosho.JPG and the head Mishaguji shrine (sōsha) are located in the same precincts.]]

The Suwa clan who once occupied the position of head priest or ōhōri of the Suwa Kamisha traditionally considered themselves to be descendants of Suwa Myōjin/Takeminakata,{{cite book|last1=Picken|first1=Stuart D.B.|title=Historical Dictionary of Shinto|date=December 28, 2010 |publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7172-4|page=288|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlG3F6gSm9UC&pg=PA288}}Inoue (2003). p. 352.{{cite book|author=Rekishi REAL Henshūbu (歴史REAL編集部) (ed.)|title=Jinja to kodai gōzoku no nazo (神社と古代豪族の謎)|date=2016|publisher=Yosensha|isbn=978-4800308924|page=40|language=ja}} although historically they are probably descended from the Kanasashi-no-toneri clan appointed by the Yamato court to govern the Suwa area in the 6th century (see above).Kanai (1982). pp. 14, 106-109.

The Suwa ōhōri was assisted by five priests, some of whom were also considered to be descendants of local deities related to Suwa Myōjin/Takeminakata. One clan, the Koide (小出氏), the original occupants of the offices of negi-dayū (禰宜大夫) and gi-no-hōri (擬祝), claimed descent from the god Yakine.Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 728, 731.{{cite book|author=Ōta, Akira|title=日本國誌資料叢書 信濃 (Nihon kokushi shiryō sōsho: Shinano)|date=1924|location=Tokyo|publisher=Isobe Kōyōdō|url=http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/982145/84|page=164}} A second clan, the Yajima (八島(嶋)氏 or 矢島氏), which served as gon-no-hōri (権祝), considered the god Ikeno'o to be their ancestor.Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 730.{{cite book|last1=Sasamoto|first1=Shōji|title=山をめぐる信州史の研究 (Yama wo meguru Shinshū-shi no kenkyū)|date=2003|publisher=Kōshi-shoin|isbn=978-4-906641-66-6|page=72}}{{cite web|title=茅野市神長官守矢史料館 (Chino-shi Jinchōkan Moriya Shiryōkan)|url=http://www.suwa-tourism.jp/archives/000733.php|website=信州諏訪観光ナビ}}{{cite book|last1=Ōta|date=1924|title=Nihon kokushi shiryō sōsho: Nagano|page=160}}

As the gods of the Grand Shrine of Suwa, Suwa Myōjin/Takeminakata and Yasakatome also serve as the deities of shrines belonging to the Suwa shrine network (諏訪神社 Suwa-jinja) all over Japan.

File:Nagikama.pngThe Nihon Shoki's record of Yamato emissaries worshipping the god of Suwa alongside the gods of Tatsuta Shrine - worshipped for their power to control and ward off wind-related disasters such as droughts and typhoonsHall, ed. (1988). p. 531.{{cite book|last1=Tyler|first1=Royall|title=Japanese No Dramas|date=1992|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-0141907802|page=cclvi|url=https://archive.org/details/japanesendramas0000tyle|url-access=registration}}{{cite book|last1=Bock|first1=Felicia Gressitt|title=Engi-shiki; Procedures of the Engi Era: Books VI-X|date=1972|publisher=Sophia University|page=73}} - implies that the Yamato imperial court recognized the deity as a god of wind and water during the late 7th century.{{cite book|editor1-last=Yazaki|editor1-first=Takenori|title=諏訪大社 (Suwa-taisha)|date=1986|publisher=Ginga shobō|series=Ginga gurafikku sensho|volume=4|page=22|language=ja}}Muraoka (1969). p. 17. One theory regarding the origin of the name '(Take)minakata' even supposes it to derive from a word denoting a body of water (水潟 minakata; see above).Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 686.

Snake-shaped iron sickle blades called nagikama (薙鎌) were traditionally used in the Suwa region to ward off strong winds, typhoons and other natural disasters; it was once customary for nagikama to be attached to wooden staves and placed on one corner of the rooftop of the house during the autumn typhoon season.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 172-173.Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 677. Nagikama are also traditionally hammered onto the trees chosen to become the onbashira of the Suwa Kamisha and Shimosha some time before these are actually felled.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 164-172. In addition to these and other uses, the blades are also distributed to function as shintai for branch shrines of the Suwa shrine network.Yazaki, ed. (1986). pp. 98-100.Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 674.

Suwa Myōjin's association with the snake or the dragon in many stories featuring the god such as the Kōga Saburō legend (see 'Legends of Suwa Myōjin' above) might be related to his being considered as a deity presiding over wind and water, due to the association of dragons with winds and the rain in Japanese belief.Kanai (1982). pp. 4-7.{{cite book|last1=De Visser|first1=Marinus Willem|title=The Dragon in China and Japan|date=1913|page=153|publisher=Cosimo |isbn=9781605204093 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mpg6Xd2jW2YC&pg=PA153}} (See also mizuchi.)

File:Samantabhadra_Fugen_Bosatsu_Okura.JPG

During the Middle Ages, under the then-prevalent synthesis of Buddhism and Shinto, Suwa Myōjin was identified with the bodhisattva Samantabhadra (Fugen),{{cite book|editor-last1=Yoshii|editor-first1=Yoshitaka |title=えびす信仰事典 (Ebisu shinkō jiten)|date=1999|isbn=978-4-900901-08-7|page=306|publisher=戎光祥出版 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glXcN9r6GhAC}}Inoue (2003) p. 354. with the goddess of the Shimosha being associated with the thousand-armed form of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Senju Kannon).Miyaji (1931). pp. 75–76. During the medieval period, Buddhist temples and other edifices were erected on the precincts of both shrines, including a stone pagoda called the Tettō (鉄塔 "iron tower") - symbolizing the legendary iron tower in India where, according to Shingon tradition, Nagarjuna was said to have received esoteric teachings from Vajrasattva (who is sometimes identified with Samantabhadra) - and a sanctuary to Samantabhadra (普賢堂 Fugendō), both of which served at the time as the Kamisha's main objects of worship.Inoue (2003). pp. 349-350.

File:Suwa Kamisha Tettō.png, this pagoda was moved to Onsenji Temple (温泉寺) in Suwa City, where it currently resides.]]

With the establishment of State Shinto after the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and the subsequent separation of Buddhism and Shinto, the shrine monks (shasō) attached to Buddhist temples in the Suwa shrine complex were laicized, with Buddhist symbols and structures being either removed or destroyed; Buddhist ceremonies performed in both the Kamisha and the Shimosha, such as the yearly offering of the Lotus Sutra to Suwa Myōjin (involving the placing of a copy of the sutra inside the Tettō), were discontinued.Inoue (2003). pp. 362-371.

Suwa Myōjin is also worshipped as a god of hunting; not surprisingly, some of the Kamisha's religious ceremonies traditionally involve(d) ritual hunting and/or animal sacrifice.

For instance, the Frog Hunting Ritual (蛙狩神事 kawazugari shinji) held every New Year's Day involves the shooting (or rather, piercing) of frogs captured from a sacred river or stream within the Kamisha's precincts with miniature arrows.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 16-20.Yazaki, ed. (1986). p. 72.Tanigawa (1987). pp. 154-155. This ritual - which has come under harsh criticism from local activists and animal rights groups for its perceived cruelty to the frogs involved{{cite web|title=Suwa taisha skewering live frogs (生きたカエルを串刺しにする諏訪大社)|url=http://blog.livedoor.jp/liablog/archives/1790677.html|website=NGO Life Investigation Agency (LIA)|date=December 30, 2013 |access-date=2016-01-05}}{{cite web|title=Rabid animal rights activists go head-to-head with tradition|url=https://japantoday.com/category/features/kuchikomi/rabid-animal-rights-activists-go-head-to-head-with-tradition|website=Japan Today|date=September 30, 2015 }} - was traditionally performed to secure peace and a bountiful harvest for the coming year.

Another festival, the Ontōsai (御頭祭) or the Tori no matsuri (酉の祭, so called because it was formerly held on the Day of the Rooster) currently held every April 15, feature the offering of seventy-five stuffed deer heads (a substitute for freshly cut heads of deer used in the past), as well as the consumption of venison and other game such as wild boar or rabbit, various kinds of seafood and other foodstuffs by the priests and other participants in a ritual banquet.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 69-72.Yazaki, ed. (1986). pp. 74-75.Oh (2011). pp. 173-175.Tanigawa (1987). pp. 155-156.Fujimori, Terunobu (1991). Maemiya Jikkenrō de no saishi (前宮十間廊での祭祀). In Jinchōkan Moriya Historical Museum, ed. pp. 15–17.

One of the Suwa Kamisha's hunting festivals, the Misayama Festival (御射山祭), formerly held in a field - the kōya (神野 'the god's plain') - at the foot of the Yatsugatake Mountains for five days (from the 26th to the 30th of the seventh month),{{efn|Currently three days: from the 26th to the 28th of August.Tanigawa (1987). p. 157.}} was one of the grandest festivals in Suwa during the Kamakura period, attracting many of the samurai class from all across Japan who engaged in displays of mounted archery, bouts of sumo wrestling and falconry as part of the festivities, as well as people from all walks of life.Tanigawa (1987). pp. 159-160.Yazaki, ed. (1986). pp. 76-77.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 115-118. The Shimosha also held its own Misayama Festival at the same time as the Kamisha (albeit in a different location), in which various warrior clans also participated.Tanigawa (1987). pp. 158-159.Miyasaka (1992). pp. 119-124.

Suwa Myōjin's association with the mountains and hunting is also evident from the description of the ōhōri as sitting upon a deer hide (the deer being an animal thought to be sacred to Suwa Myōjin) during the Ontōsai ritual as practiced during medieval times.Tanigawa (1987). p. 138.Oh (2011). pp. 173.

At a time when slaughter of animals and consumption of meat was frowned upon due to Mahayana Buddhism's strict views on vegetarianism and the general Buddhist opposition against the taking of life, the cult of Suwa Myōjin was a unique feature in the Japanese religious landscape for its celebration of hunting and meat eating.Kanai (1982). p. 21-23.

A four-line verse attached to the Kōga Saburō legend popularly known as the Suwa no kanmon (諏訪の勘文) encapsulates the justification of meat eating within a Buddhist framework: by being eaten by humans and 'dwelling' inside their bodies, ignorant animals could achieve enlightenment together with their human consumers.Kanai (1982). p. 22.Miyasaka (1987). pp. 56-57.

{{Blockquote|text=業尽有情 Gōjin ujō

雖放不生 Suihō fushō

故宿人天 Koshuku ninten

同証仏果 Dōshō bukkaSee Kanai (1982). pp. 318-319 for attested variants.

Sentient beings who have exhausted their karma:

Even if one sets (them) free, (they) will not live (for long);

Therefore (have them) dwell within humans and gods

(That they may) as well achieve Buddhahood}}

The Kamisha produced special talismans (鹿食免 kajiki-men "permit to eat venison") and chopsticks (鹿食箸 kajiki-bashi) that were held to allow the bearer to eat meat.{{cite web|last1=Nogami|first1=Takahiro|title=Suwa Shinkō|url=http://k-amc.kokugakuin.ac.jp/DM/dbSearchList.do?class_name=col_eos&search_condition_type=1&db_search_condition_type=4&View=2&startNo=1&focus_type=0&searchFreeword=Suwa%20Shink%C5%8D&searchRangeType=0|website=Encyclopedia of Shinto|publisher=Kokugakuin University|access-date=May 27, 2017|archive-date=April 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429025336/http://k-amc.kokugakuin.ac.jp/DM/dbSearchList.do?class_name=col_eos&search_condition_type=1&db_search_condition_type=4&View=2&startNo=1&focus_type=0&searchFreeword=Suwa%20Shink%C5%8D&searchRangeType=0|url-status=dead}}Miyasaka (1987). pp. 55-56.{{cite web|last1=Uehara|first1=Yoshiko|title=Revival of Japan's Wild Game Cuisine|url=http://www.nippon.com/en/views/b01712/|website=nippon.com|date=April 3, 2015 }}Kajikimen (鹿食免). In Jinchōkan Moriya Historical Museum, ed. (1991). pp. 27–28. Since it was the only one of its kind in Japan, the talisman was popular among hunters and meat eaters. These sacred licenses and chopsticks were distributed to the public both by the priests of the Kamisha as well as wandering preachers associated with the shrine known as oshi (御師), who preached the tale of Suwa Myōjin as Kōga Saburō as well as other stories concerning the god and his benefits.

File:Hatajirushi3.png (right) and Takeda Shingen (left). The leftmost banner (white with blue border and red lettering) carries the inscription Suwa hosshō-kamishimo-daimyōjin (諏訪法性上下大明神).]]

File:Shingen_Takeda%27s_armour.jpg

Suwa Myōjin is also considered to be a god of war, one of a number of such deities in the Japanese pantheon. Besides the legend of the god's apparition to Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (see above), the Ryōjin Hishō compiled in 1179 (the late Heian period) also attest to the worship of the god of Suwa in the capacity of god of warfare at the time of its compilation, naming the shrine of Suwa among famous shrines to martial deities in the eastern half of the country.

{{Blockquote|text=These gods of war live east of the barrier:{{efn|During the Heian period, the expression 'east of the barrier' (関の東 seki-no-hi(n)gashi, whence derives the term 関東 Kantō) referred to the provinces beyond the checkpoints or barrier stations (関 seki) at the eastern fringes of the capital region, more specifically the land east of the checkpoint at Ōsaka/Ausaka Hill (逢坂 'hill of meeting', old orthography: Afusaka; not to be confused with the modern city of Osaka) in modern Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture.{{cite book|last1=Marshall|first1=Yuko|title=Heterogeneous Japan: The Cultural Distinctions Between Western and Eastern Japan|date=2008|page=6|isbn=9780549562146|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8EdvhO4Xkn4C&pg=PA6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215161620/https://books.google.com/books?id=8EdvhO4Xkn4C&pg=PA6|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 15, 2017}} By the Edo period, Kantō was reinterpreted to mean the region east of the checkpoint in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture.}}

Kashima, Katori, Suwa no Miya, and Hira Myōjin;

also Su in Awa, Otaka Myōjin in Tai no Kuchi,

Yatsurugi in Atsuta, and Tado no Miya in Ise.|title=Ryōjin Hishō|source=song 258{{cite book|last1=Kim|first1=Yung-Hee|title=Songs to Make the Dust Dance: The Ryōjin Hishō of Twelfth-century Japan|date=1994|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-08066-9|pages=144–145a|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SFlSLX-nCeEC&pg=PA144}} {{efn|「関より東(ひむかし)の軍神(いくさがみ)、鹿島・香取(かんどり)・諏訪の宮、また比良(ひら)の明神、安房の洲(す)滝(たい)の口や小鷹明神、熱田に八剣(やつるぎ)、伊勢には多度(たど)の宮。」}}}}

During the Kamakura period, the Suwa clan's association with the shogunate and the Hōjō clan helped further cement Suwa Myōjin's reputation as a martial deity.Yazaki (1986). p. 25. 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. 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).Muraoka (1969). p. 112.

The Takeda clan of Kai Province (modern Yamanashi Prefecture) were devotees of Suwa Myōjin, its most famous member, the Sengoku daimyō Takeda Shingen being no exception.{{cite book|last1=Katō|first1=Aki|title=写真と絵でわかる 古事記・日本書紀 (Shashin to e de wakaru Kojiki - Nihon Shoki)|date=2015|publisher=Seitōsha|isbn=978-4791620661|page=59|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQXIBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA59}}{{cite web|title=信玄の信仰 (Shingen no shinkō)|url=http://home.d03.itscom.net/p-l514/syukyou.html|website=武田信玄の館 (Takeda Shingen no yakata)|access-date=June 10, 2017|archive-date=July 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704015233/http://home.d03.itscom.net/p-l514/syukyou.html|url-status=dead}} His devotion is visibly evident in some of his war banners, which bore the god's name and invocations such as Namu Suwa Nangū Hosshō Kamishimo Daimyōjin (南無諏方南宮法性上下大明神 'Namo Dharma-Nature Daimyōjin of the Suwa Upper and Lower Shrines'). The iconic horned helmet with the flowing white hair commonly associated with Shingen, popularly known as the Suwa-hosshō helmet (諏訪法性兜 Suwa-hosshō-(no)-kabuto), came to be reputed in some popular culture retellings to have been blessed by the god, guaranteeing success in battle to its wearer.{{cite book|last1=Brandon|first1=James R.|last2=Leiter|first2=Samuel L. (eds.)|title=Kabuki Plays on Stage: Brilliance and Bravado, 1697–1766, Volume 1|date=2002|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-2403-7|page=328|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfB18HqorrwC&pg=PA328}}{{cite book|last1=Gessel|first1=Van C.|last2=Rimer|first2=J. Thomas|title=The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature: From Restoration to Occupation, 1868–1945|date=2010|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-52164-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8p6oUV9ln6cC&pg=PA138|page=138}} Shingen also issued an order for the reinstitution of the religious rites of both the Kamisha and the Shimosha in 1565.Tanigawa (1987). p. 137.Yazaki (1986). p. 26.

{{Eight generations of Izumo}}

• Moreya
• Mishaguji
• Ōkuninushi
• Onbashira Festival
• Snake worship
• Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba
• Suwa taisha
• Takemikazuchi

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|3}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

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• [http://suwataisha.or.jp/index.html Official website of Suwa Grand Shrine]{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} {{in lang|ja}}
• [https://moriyajinja.amebaownd.com/ Official website of Moriya Shrine (洩矢神社公式HP)] {{in lang|ja}}
• [http://www.city.chino.lg.jp/www/contents/1000001465000/ Jinchōkan Moriya Historical Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304055203/http://www.city.chino.lg.jp/www/contents/1000001465000/ |date=March 4, 2018 }} on Chino City's official website {{in lang|ja}}

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