Suwa Shrine Audio Guide

Suwa Shrine: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Suwa-jinja

   Welcome to Suwa-jinja, written 諏訪神社 in Japanese, the major Shinto shrine of Nagasaki. It sits on a hillside above the city. Locals call it affectionately Osuwasan, and it is the beating heart of Nagasaki's great autumn festival. You reach the shrine by climbing a long run of stone steps that rise up the slope, passing under gates along the way. Take your time on the climb. Every landing tells you that you are leaving the streets behind, and the city and harbor start to open out below you. This guide follows the shrine's story in four parts: its founding in a tense moment of Nagasaki's history, the festival that grew from it, its place in the city's modern story, and the small details to look for as you wander. This is a shrine with a history of roughly 400 years, and it has a lot to say about how Nagasaki became the city it is.

2. 02

   Suwa-jinja and a Port Under Pressure

   To understand why this shrine exists, picture Nagasaki in the early seventeenth century. It was home to the largest Christian population in Japan, and many of its older Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples had been destroyed. The official date of construction for Suwa-jinja is 1614, the same year as Tokugawa Ieyasu's edict against Christianity, though at that point there was little more than a small structure marking the future site. The real push came with a Shugendo priest named Aoki Kensei, who arrived in Nagasaki in 1623. He had the backing of the shogunate and the Nagasaki magistrate, and he carried authority granted by the Yoshida Shinto council. His religious zeal and organizing skill led to the completion of the main shrine structure in 1626. Historians read the shrine's purpose in two ways. The shogunate had reversed its once-friendly policy toward Christianity and was pushing people back toward Buddhism and Shinto. A grand center of Shinto worship in Nagasaki offered the community a shared focal point, and it also made a statement about who held authority in this international port.

3. 03

   The Kunchi Festival at Suwa-jinja

   Every year from October seventh to ninth, this hillside becomes a stage. The Nagasaki Kunchi was originally celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, and it now keeps fixed dates. It is counted among the three major festivals of Japan, and its votive dances are designated as an important intangible folk cultural property. What makes it unforgettable is its mix of cultures. Nagasaki was the only place in Japan with an open port, so it was considered essential to impress Dutch and Chinese traders with Japanese culture. The result is a festival with snake dances, Chinese dragons and the parading of large wooden boats, blending Japanese tradition with influences from China, the Netherlands and Portugal. The festival's roots are tied to the shrine's early days. One reading holds that it also served as a way to identify hidden Christians who would not take part. Then, beginning in 1638, major Noh performances were held at the shrine at the direct command of the shogun. When you stand in these grounds, imagine them filled with dancers, music and crowds of spectators.

4. 04

   Suwa-jinja Through Nagasaki's Darkest Day

   Suwa-jinja has also carried Nagasaki through its modern trials. The shrine came through the atomic bombing, and survivors considered that significant. To many of them it showed the power of the native Japanese kami, set against the imported Christian god. Priests from the shrine then took an active part in rebuilding the city. They consecrated the land and purified the structures that still stood, giving a devastated community a spiritual foundation to restart from. In that sense Suwa-jinja did more than survive. It helped Nagasaki begin again. The shrine kept growing, too. Additional construction in 1984 and 1994 marked the anniversaries of its enshrinement, giving the complex much of the shape you see today. The shrine's role in Nagasaki's Christian history, its survival of the bombing and the international elements in its festival have made it a symbol of the city's resilience and cultural diversity.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Before you leave, look around for the smaller treasures. Old photographs of the shrine show a holy bronze horse and a bronze torii gate leading toward the long ascent, so see what still catches your eye on the way. The grounds also hold a collection of komainu, the guardian lion-dogs, and wandering among them is a pleasant way to explore the precincts. There is a surprising bit of trivia here as well. In 1914, an English teacher at the pre-war Nagasaki Middle School named Kohachiro Kugimoto made the first English fortune slips in Japan, and the shrine still remembers them. Perhaps you will draw one yourself. When you head back down, you might take the footpaths of the small public park beside the shrine, which wind back toward the city. And if you can, imagine the October festival filling every step you just climbed.