Naturally, travelers planning to visit Suwa will have researched the Onbashira Festival, which is held once every seven years, in advance, so I will omit any details about it.
Shrines with a long history or, more directly saying, with the enough funds, are rebuilt in different near locations every 20 years. Some people think of this as the rebirth of life, but I think it’s an exquisite way of thinking from the perspective of passing down techniques and connecting people in carrying out festivals. With the same idea of rebirth of life, you can think of Suwa Shrine as having the pillars at the four corners surrounding the shrine replaced every seven years, but without changing the location. Some people think of these pillars as a barrier that marks the boundary between the divine world and the human world. Furthermore, there are four Suwa shrines with the same name in this area, and Lake Suwa is in the middle of these four shrines.
Let me mention here that there are shrines with the same name in various places. Shinto shrines are translated into English as one word ‘shrines’, but in Japanese they are roughly divided into several groups based on their relationship with the imperial family, those with special pedigree such as historical figures, the centers of local beliefs, and etc. The Japanese names of ‘shrines’ also change depending on the relationship, for example, ’Jingu’ like Ise Jingu shrine, ‘Gu’ like Kitano Tenman-gu shrine, ‘Taisha’ like Suwa shrine. They are further divided into several groups depending on the purpose they are enshrined. For example, there are about 30,000 ‘Inari’ shrines for agriculture or business, about 40,000 ‘Hachiman’ shrines for military luck (The head of it is Usa Shrine.), about 12,000 ‘Tenjin’ shrines for academics, and about 25,000 ‘Suwa’ shrines for agricultural irrigation. This is why the same name ‘Suwa Shrine’ is also located in Nagasaki, for example, which is not only Suwa. Four Suwa Shrines in Suwa region are the head of the group.
Suwa Shrine Kamisha-Maemiya (Chino city)
Suwa Shrine Kamisha-Hongu (Chino city)
Suwa Shrine Shimosha-Harumiya (Shimo-suwa town)
Suwa Shrine Shimosha-Akimiya (Shimo-suwa town)
Although you will not receive any blessings if you do not visit all four Suwa shrines, you can visit them all in one day. You can get off the JR train at Chino Station and rent a bicycle to visit Kamisha-Maemiya and Kamisha-Hongu, then move to Shimo-Suwa Station and rent a bicycle or walk around Shimosha-Harumiya and Shimosha-Akimiya.
The two Shimosha shrines are similar in structure, so if you don’t have time, you can lie and say you visited both shrines even if you only visit one. Only God knows! If I was really short on time and had to choose one of the four shrines, I would choose the most rustic Kamisha-Maemiya. There is another reason to chose it, Matsuki Agar Industry is right in front of it. Being an agar-producing area means that there are harsh winds in the winter, but the factory here lets you try plenty of samples, and you can get agar at a cheap price.
You can make delicious milk agar at home using just canned pineapple, granulated sugar, and milk. First, soak one stick of agar in 300ml of water, heat until it dissolves, add half of the canned syrup and 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, heat further, turn off the heat, and slowly pour in 500ml of milk. Sprinkle finely chopped canned pineapple in a container, add melted milk agar, and serve.
The Onbashira Festival is a series of events in which a pillar of a fir tree weighing 10 tons is cut down from the mountain, dragged by hand on the road, descended down a steep slope with many people straddling on the pillar, and finally placed at the four corners of the shrine. Therefore, if you don’t come across it once every seven years, you can find it on a dragged road (Onbashira road, especially the sharp curve in front of the Tamagawa post office), on a steep slope (Kiotoshizaka, near Toda Sake Brewery of Chino, Daiya-Kiku) or on the flat side of the dragged pillar in shrines. You can think about the grandeur of the festival by looking at them. There is also a demonstration at Onbashira-kan near Suwa Shrine Shimosha-Harumiya where you can ride a pillar and feel going down a steep slope, so be sure to try it out.
Onbashira Festival （source: suwataisha.or.jp）
Also, at the entrance of the shrine there is a place to wash your hands to purify yourself, but I was surprised to find out that the water at Suwa Shrine is hot spring water.
Detour 1 (Ghibli World near Shimosha-Harumiya )
Manji’s stone Buddha statue reminds you of the robot soldiers in the world of Ghibli, “Laputa: Castle in the Sky”. There is a legend that when trying to put a chisel into that stone while making the torii gate of Shimosha-Harumiya, blood spilled out. So the stonemason used that stone to carve a stone Buddha.
Detour2 (Real hot spring)
The old road from Shimosha-Harumiya to Shimosha-Akimiya remains. Spring water is everywhere, and most of it is hot spring water. There is a public bath called ‘Tanga no Yu’ with hot water being poured of 52 degrees. The hot springs are colorless and transparent, but once you dip one foot in, you’ll be hesitant about putting the other foot in. It’s more than just a good bath, it’s a test of patience. When I came out, I felt the woman at the reception desk look at me, as if to say, oh, you’re already here, you’re early. Someone please look back. By the way, one person who appeared to be a local was soaked up to his shoulders! Brave !
Detour3
There are various places to view Lake Suwa in its entirety, but if you are driving, the best option is to go up the narrow road that leads to the back door of Suwa Lake Service Area building (used mainly by employees) without entering the expressway. You can take fine photos with the sun behind you.
Takashima Castle is located on the eastern shore of Lake Suwa, and the cherry blossoms surrounding the moat are spectacular in spring. There is a record that it once faced Lake Suwa, but the special feature is that the roof tiles were broken due to the cold climate, so at that time the roof was changed to shingled roof. The famous historical building with shingled roof is Ginkakuji Temple in Kyoto.
