Sapporo Suwa Jinja

Shrine · Sapporo

Suwa Jinja

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In short

Thirty-odd settlers from Shinano began breaking ground here in 1878, and four years later, by the unanimous will of the settlers, sent for a divided spirit from Shinano’s first shrine.

The precinct of Sapporo Suwa Jinja in Higashi-ku, Sapporo. — 禁樹なずな / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick facts

Address: 12-1-1-10 Kita 12-jo Higashi, Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido

About this place

Sapporo Suwa Jinja stands in Higashi-ku, Sapporo. Its deities are Takeminakata and Yasakatome. In 1878 Ueshima Tadashi and some thirty others, people of Shinano province, migrated here and began breaking ground. By the unanimous will of the settlers, on 12 March 1882 a divided spirit was invited from Suwa Jinja, the first shrine of Shinano province and a shrine of the highest imperial rank, and enshrined here. It was petitioned to the Home Ministry and ranked on 14 February 1898, raised to village-shrine rank on 19 April 1934, and applied for district rank in 1945. A new hall was built in 1966; the centenary of enshrinement was marked in 1982, the 110th in 1992, the 120th in 2002 and the 130th in 2012. The annual festival is 12 September, with the eve festival on 11 September. No benefit that may be prayed for is stated.

Origin and history

In 1878 Ueshima Tadashi and some thirty others, people of Shinano province, migrated here and began breaking ground.

By the unanimous will of the settlers, on 12 March 1882 a divided spirit was invited from Suwa Jinja, the first shrine of Shinano province and a shrine of the highest imperial rank, and enshrined here.

It was petitioned to the Home Ministry and ranked on 14 February 1898, raised to village-shrine rank on 19 April 1934, and applied for district rank in 1945. A new hall was built in 1966, the centenary was marked in 1982 and the 130th year in 2012.

What it is locally associated with

Origin
Invited by unanimous will
By the unanimous will of the settlers, on 12 March 1882 a divided spirit was invited from Suwa Jinja, the first shrine of Shinano province.
documented history
Origin
Thirty-odd from Shinano
In 1878 Ueshima Tadashi and some thirty others, people of Shinano province, migrated here and began breaking ground.
documented history
What people do here
A hundred and thirty years
A new hall was built in 1966; the centenary of enshrinement was marked in 1982 and the 130th year in 2012.
documented history

Here the people arrived four years ahead of the god. Ueshima Tadashi and some thirty others migrated and began breaking ground in 1878; the divided spirit was invited on 12 March 1882. Most of Sapporo’s shrines have the god travel with the people — Hokkaido Jingu’s three deities by ship and on a man’s back, Nishino Jinja’s five households holding their guardian deity, Miyoshi Jinja’s Kimura Tōkichi carrying a divided spirit from home. This one sent for it after arriving.

How it was sent for is also recorded: by the unanimous will of the settlers. Not one person’s doing, but the agreement of thirty-odd. Like Kotoni Jinja’s 240 households, Nishino Jinja’s five and Teine Jinja’s 250, a number stands at this shrine’s beginning — but the number does something different here. It is not the hands that carried, it is the heads that decided.

The spirit came from Suwa Jinja, first shrine of Shinano province. The origins of the gods carried into Sapporo on this list now run Miyagi, Akita, Aomori, Kyoto and Shinano. The map of where the settlers came from is also the pedigree of what they worship.

The chronology counts to a hundred and thirty years: ranked in 1898, a village shrine in 1934, a new hall in 1966, the centenary in 1982 and the 130th year in 2012.

Claims and evidence levels 2

Settlers from Shinano began breaking ground in 1878 and invited a divided spirit from Shinano’s first shrine in 1882 by unanimous agreement. documented history
It was ranked in 1898, made a village shrine in 1934, and marked its 130th year of enshrinement in 2012. documented history

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