Suva-jinja ( 諏 訪 神社 ) is the main Shinto shrine in Nagasaki , Japan, and the venue for the Nagasaki Kunti festival. It is located in the northern part of the city, on the slope of Mount Tamadzono-san, on the top of which a staircase of 277 steps leads to the sanctuary.
Suva-jinja was founded to prevent Nagasaki residents from adopting Christianity and to facilitate their return to Shinto practice. Today it is an important center of the local Shinto community.
The Nagasaki Temple is one of Suva's many shrines dedicated to Suva-no-Kami, the deity of valor and duty. Two other kami, Sumiyoshi and Morizaki, are also attached to the shrine. The Nagasaki Kunti Festival is a celebration in honor of these three kami .
History
The official date of construction of the Suva-jinja is 1614 . In the same year, Tokugawa Ieyasu issued a decree against Christianity. Nagasaki was the largest community of Christians in Japan. Many Shinto and Buddhist temples fell into decay. The Tokugawa government has introduced repressive measures against Christians, forcing them to return to the practice of Shinto and Buddhism. It considered it important to establish the main Shinto shrines, thereby helping to restore a sense of community among the local population.
In 1624, Aoki Kensei arrived in Nagasaki, whose religious zeal and organizational talent, combined with the authority granted to him by the head of the Yoshida Shinto Council, led to the completion of the formation of the main structure of Suva-jinja. In order to draw attention to the sanctuary and increase the number of parishioners of the new temple, he began to conduct a ritual of yutate-sai, during which the priest, communicating with the kami, plunges his hands into boiling water and takes them out of it safe and sound. Despite this, as well as the sumo matches that were held in the sanctuary, the number of parishioners remained the same.
In 1634, a decree was issued requiring all local residents to register at the temple. In addition to this, in another attempt to further increase the participation of local people in temple activities, a large autumn festival was established at the temple. Both of these events were an attempt to find Christians who remained in the city, who would not participate in the festival and would not register at the temple. The one who did not do this was arrested, tortured and, if he did not renounce Christianity, executed.
Nagasaki was left by the government the only port in Japan, open to ships of foreigners - the Dutch and Chinese. The festival was supposed to show them the traditional Japanese culture. In addition, starting in 1638 , during the Nagasaki Kunti festival, the main performances of the No Theater were held in Suva-jinja. These performances continued until 1856 , when a fire in the temple destroyed most of the masks and props of the theater.
From 1871 to 1946, Suva-jinja was officially designated as one of the Kokuhei Tusa ( 国 幣 中 社 ), becoming one of the central national shrines.
Suva-jinja survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 . This happened, it is believed, due to the fact that it is located in the central part of the southern slope of Mount Tamazono-san. The shrine priests took an active part in rebuilding Nagasaki, including consecrating the land and cleaning up the surviving buildings.
In 1984, a large-scale reconstruction and modernization of the temple was carried out, in which air conditioning and windows were installed. This reconstruction caused controversy, as some felt that modern amenities have no place in the national shrine.
Sources
- Nelson, John K., A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine, USA, University of Washington Press, 1996.
- Nelson, John K. Historical monuments at Nagasaki Suwa shrine
- Gerstman, Bruce. Suwa Shrine story