Suwa-Shrine
and Arajishi Festival
Suwa-Shrine
The origin of Suwa-Shrine is the
following. In the Tensho era (about 1582), the man called
Kimura Ecchuzu came to Hagyu holding the Holy Spirit from
Shinano(Nagano Prefecture) and then built this shrine. In
the Kyouho era (1716-1736), the man called Kan-uemon found a sacred
stone in the pond and dedicated it to the shrine as the deity of
Suwa-Shrine. The shrine was extended in 1724 and was newly
built in 1953. The painting of the stump of a huge cedar is
displayed inside of the shrine. It was painted by Hiraoka
Tadao, a famous painter as a specialist of giant-tree paintings.
Around here, there are Koku-zo-son-do and Amida-do, which
had been part of Kozennji temple. At the same time as
massive immigration, the temple had been replaced here and became the
principal temple.
Arajishi(a
brave lion) Festival
Shishi is a traditional Japanese imaginary
lion.
This lion appeared on the Japanese TV show “Furusato-no-uta matsuri
(the festival of folk songs)” by NHK (in 1969, Nagai City), and showed
the traditional lion dance, Shishimai. Teru Miyata, an
announcer of the show, shouted “What a brave lion!
(Arajishi)”. From that on, the festival has been called
Arajishi Festival. Almost all the community people
participate in the festival, and it has been lasting for 300
years. In 1985, the mikoshi(portable shrine) parade consists
of 200 people was registered as the intangible cultural heritage of the
town.
There are 6 lion heads in this shrine(2 of them had been
stolen). One of them is called Ikijishi, which was made in
1782. And it was praised as “the greatest” in “the
Exhibition of Lion-Head" of 1,200th anniversary of Miyauchi Kumano
Shrine. The mikoshi and other treasures are stored in a
shrine sanctuary.
