| relig. |
(1) Two kami, Takeminakatatomi no mikoto and Yasa-katome no mikoto, of lake Suwa in Nagano prefecture are enshrined at Suwa taisha and Suwa branch shrines throughout Japan. (2) The Suwa clan who were the hereditary priestly family of the Suwa taisha. They were warrior-subjects (gokenin) of the Kamakura bakufu and in the Jokyu revolt of 1221 fought with the bakufu against the rebellious ex-emperor Go-Toba, who was subsequently exiled to the island of Oki. The main festival of the Suwa taisha is the o-fune-matsuri (boat festival) celebrated on February 1st and again on August 1st. A scarecrow-like symbol of the kami is taken from one shrine to another in an eight-ton "boat" or raft of brushwood drawn on a sledge (it was previously carried). While in progress the kami looks at the rice-fields. The Suwa jinja in Nagasaki which hosts the karatsu-kunchi is said to have a special role in coping with the spread of Christianity in the area A Popular Dictionary of Shinto (Brian Bocking) |
