, also known as Misakuji(n), Mis(h)aguchi or Mishakuji among other variants (see below), is a deity or spirit, or several, that featured in certain religious rites formerly practiced in the Upper Shrine of Suwa, one of the two shrines that comprise the

Suwa Grand Shrine , historically also known as Suwa Shrine (諏訪神社 ''Suwa-jinja'') or , is a group of Shinto shrines in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The shrine complex is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Shinano Province and is considered to be one of the oldest sh ...

complex in

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

(historical

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

). In such ceremonies, the Mishaguji were 'summoned' by one of the shrine's high-ranking priests, the ''Kan-no-Osa'' (神長, also ''Jinchō'') or ''Jinchōkan'' (神長官), into persons or objects that would act as their vessels (''

yorishiro A in Shinto terminology is an object capable of attracting spirits called , thus giving them a physical space to occupy during religious ceremonies. are used during ceremonies to call the for worship. The word itself literally means "approach ...

'') for the duration of the ritual, being then 'dismissed' upon its completion. In addition to playing a role in Suwa Shrine's religious rites, the Mishaguji are also enshrined in 'Mishaguji Shrines' (御社宮司社 ''Mishaguji-sha'') found throughout the

Lake Suwa is a lake in the Kiso Mountains, in the central region of Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Geography The lake is the source of the Tenryū River. It ranks 24th in lake water surface area in Japan. The cities of Suwa and Okaya and the town of Shimosuw ...

region and its vicinity. Worship of ''kami'' with similar-sounding names are also attested in various localities throughout east and central Japan; indeed, such deities have been speculated to be related to the Mishaguji. The exact nature of the Mishaguji is a matter of debate. Medieval documents from the Upper Shrine seem to imply them to be lesser gods or spirits subordinate to the shrine's deity, Suwa Daimyōjin (a.k.a. Takeminakata), with post-medieval sources conflating them with Suwa Daimyōjin's children; indeed, 'Mishaguji' was often interpreted as an epithet of these gods during the early modern period. In addition, outside of Suwa Shrine the Mishaguji were also worshiped as, among other things, god(s) of boundaries and tutelary protectors (''

ubusunagami in Shinto are tutelary kami of one's birthplace. Overview In Shinto, a guardian deity of the land of one's birth. It is believed to be a deity that protects you from before you are born until after you die, and that it will protect you throug ...

'') of local communities. In this regard they are functionally similar to the guardian gods known as ''

Dōsojin is a generic name for a type of Shinto ''kami'' popularly worshipped in Kantō and neighboring areas in Japan where, as tutelary deities of borders and paths, they are believed to protect travellers, pilgrims, villages, and individuals in "transit ...

'' or ''Sai-no-kami''. Upon becoming the focus of intense study during the modern period (especially during the

postwar In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

era), various theories as to the origins and original nature of Mishaguji worship and its relation to Suwa Shrine began to be put forward by local historians and other scholars. One theory for instance claims that they were originally deities of fertility or agriculture, another proposes that the Mishaguji were viewed as spirits that inhabited sacred rocks or trees, while yet another claims that 'Mishaguji' originally denoted an impersonal, empowering force in present in nature analogous to the Austronesian concept of

mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a ...

. As

phallic A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precisely ...

stone rods ( 石棒 ''sekibō'') dating from the

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

and similar prehistoric artifacts are employed as cult objects (''

shintai In Shinto, , or when the honorific prefix ''go''- is used, are physical objects worshipped at or near Shinto shrines as repositories in which spirits or ''kami'' reside.''Shintai'', Encyclopedia of Shinto ''Shintai'' used in Shrine Shinto (Jin ...

'') in some Mishaguji-related shrines in Suwa and other areas, a number of authors have speculated that Mishaguji worship may ultimately originate from Jōmon religious beliefs. A few even surmise that the Mishaguji were already being worshiped in Suwa before the cult of Takeminakata - claimed here to be a later import - was introduced into the region; the appearance of the Mishaguji in the Upper Shrine's rites are seen by these scholars to be a relic of original local beliefs. These assumptions, however, have recently come into question.

Names

Multiple variants of the name 'Mishaguji' exist such as 'Mishaguchi', 'Misaguchi', 'Misaguji', 'Mishakuji', 'Misakuji(n)', or 'Omishaguji'.Moriya, Sanae (1991). ''Moriya Jinchōke no ohanashi'' (守矢神長家のお話し). In Jinchōkan Moriya Historical Museum (Ed.). ''Jinchōkan Moriya Shiryōkan no shiori'' (神長官守矢資料館のしおり) (Rev. ed.). p. 4.Ōwa (1990). p. 189.Miyasaka (1987). p. 24. There are also various ways of rendering the name in

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

such as 御左口神, 御作神, 御社宮神, or 御社宮司, with 御左口神 being the commonly used form in medieval documents penned by the Suwa Shrine priesthood. Outside Suwa, deities thought to be related to the Mishaguji with names such as '(O)shaguji', '(O)shagoji', '(O)sangūji', 'Sa(n)goji', 'Saguji', 'Shagottsan', 'Shagottan', 'Jogu-san', 'Osangū-san', 'Oshamotsu- sama', or ' Oshamoji-sama' - with different ways of writing them in kanji - are found. The name's etymology is uncertain. During the early modern period when the Mishaguji were conflated with the divine children (''mikogami'') of Takeminakata, the god of the Upper Suwa Shrine, the name was explained as being derived from the term ''sakuchi'' (闢地, lit. 'to open up / develop the land'), which in turn was connected with legends that credit Takeminakata's offspring with forming and developing the land of Shinano. The name has also been interpreted as deriving from ''shakujin'' / ''ishigami'' (石神 'stone deity'), a term used for sacred stones or rocks that were worshiped as repositories (''

'') of ''kami'' (it has been observed that stones or stone items were employed as ''shintai'' in many Mishaguji-related shrines), or '' shakujin'' (尺神), due to another association with bamboo poles and measuring ropes used in

land surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

and boundary marking. The term ''sakujin'' (作神 'harvest / crop deity') has also been suggested as a possible origin. Ōwa Iwao (1990) meanwhile theorized the name to be derived from ''(mi)sakuchi'' (honorific prefix 御 ''mi-'' + 作霊, 咲霊 ''sakuchi''), a spirit (''chi''; cf. '' ikazu-chi'', '' oro-chi'', '' mizu-chi'') that brings forth or opens up (''saku'', cf. 咲く 'to bloom', 裂く 'to tear open', 作 'to do/make/cultivate/grow'；cf. also the verb ''sakuru''/''shakuru'' 'to dig/scoop up') the latent life force present in the soil or the female womb.

Extent of cult

Research conducted by local historian Imai Nogiku in the 1950s revealed a total of 780

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

s to the Mishaguji (or similarly-named deities) within Nagano Prefecture, 109 of which are in the Suwa area (comprising the modern municipalities of Chino, Suwa, Okaya,

Shimosuwa is a Towns of Japan, town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 20,055 in 8864 households, and a population density of 300 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Shimosuwa is located ...

, Fujimi, and

Hara Hara may refer to: Art and entertainment * Hara (band), a Romanian pop-band * ''Hara'' (film), a 2014 Kannada-language drama film * ''Hara'' (sculpture), a 1989 artwork by Deborah Butterfield * Goo Hara (1991-2019), South Korean idol singer ...

).Oh (2011). p. 164. As noted above, worship of possibly related ''kami'' with names such as 'S(h)aguji' or 'S(h)agoji' are also attested in neighboring areas, being notably widespread throughout the Kantō and

Chūbu region The , Central region, or is a region in the middle of Honshu, Honshū, Japan, Japan's main island. In a wide, classical definition, it encompasses nine prefectures (''ken''): Aichi Prefecture, Aichi, Fukui Prefecture, Fukui, Gifu Prefecture ...

s of Japan. Shrines enshrining these gods are found in places such as

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...

(233 shrines),

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectu ...

(229 shrines), Yamanashi (160 shrines), Mie (140 shrines) and

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

(116 shrines).Ōwa (1990). p. 199. On the other hand, such shrines are conspicuously absent in the two prefectures of Niigata and

Toyama Toyama may refer to: Places and organizations * Toyama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on the main Honshu island * Toyama, Toyama, the capital city of Toyama Prefecture * Toyama Station, the main station of Toyama, ...

, located to the north of Nagano. Jinchoukan-Moriya-shiryoukan Mishaguchi-jinja-2

The head shrine of the local Mishaguji shrine network in Suwa is the Ontō Mishaguji Sōsha (御頭御社宮司総社) in Chino, situated within the grounds of the Moriya family estate. Before the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the Moriya ( 守矢氏) served in the Upper Suwa Shrine as priests known as ''Kan-no-Osa'' (神長) or ''Jinchōkan'' (神長官). The ''Jinchōkan'' was second only to the ''Ōhōri'' (大祝), the shrine's high priest revered both as the descendant and the living vessel or ''shintai'' of the shrine's deity, Takeminakata, and was responsible for conducting the shrine's religious ceremonies; indeed, summoning and dismissing the Mishaguji in rituals was held to be the prerogative of this priest. However, local historians believe that the Maemiya (前宮), one of the Upper Shrine's two sub-shrines and one of the four sites that comprise the Suwa Grand Shrine complex, was the original center of local Mishaguji worship, known as the 'Great Mishaguji' (大御社宮神 ''Ō-Mishaguji''); indeed, medieval records refer to the "twenty Mishaguji of the Maemiya" (前宮廿ノ御社宮神).

Function

Mishaguji are believed to be spirits that dwell in rocks, trees, or bamboo leaves,Tanigawa (1987). p. 185, 193. as well as various man-made objects such as

stone rods ( 石棒 ''sekibō''), grinding slabs (石皿 ''ishizara'') or

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...

(石臼 ''ishiusu'').Ōwa (1990). p. 191.Oh (2011). p. 164. In addition to the above, Mishaguji are also thought to descend upon straw effigies as well as possess human beings, especially during religious rituals. This concept of Mishaguji as a possessing spirit are reflected in texts that describe Mishaguji being 'brought down' (降申 ''oroshi-mōsu'', i.e. being summoned into a repository, whether human or object) or 'lifted up' (上申 ''age-mōsu'', i.e. being dismissed from its vessel) by the Moriya ''jinchōkan'', the priest with the exclusive right to call upon Mishaguji in the religious rites of the Suwa Grand Shrine. Folk beliefs considered Mishaguji to be associated with

fertility Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Fertili ...

and the harvest, as well as healers of diseases like the

common cold The common cold or the cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the respiratory mucosa of the nose, throat, sinuses, and larynx. Signs and symptoms may appear fewer than two days after exposu ...

pertussis Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or ...

.Miyasaka (1987). p. 25. Mishaguji have been worshipped as tutelary deities of whole villages (産土神 ''ubusuna-gami'') as well as specific kinship groups (祝神 ''iwai-gami''). Further reflecting this relationship between Mishaguji and local communities is their being believed to preside over the act of founding villages as well as their being associated with the broadly similar concept of '' saikami'' (patrons of boundaries or borders).

Mishaguji in Suwa

Within the Suwa region,

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in t ...

with other myths has resulted in the representation of Mishaguji as snakes, as well as their connection with the story of Takeminakata-no-kami and Moreya-no-kami; Moreya-no-kami is said to represent the autochthonous worship of Mishaguji that syncretized with the worship of new gods represented by Takeminakata-no-kami.『東洋神名事典』p. 463

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *{{cite book, last1=Yanagita, first1=Kunio, title=石神問答 (Ishigami mondō), date=1910, publisher=Juseidō (聚精堂), location=Tokyo, pages=2ff, url=http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/993744, language=ja Fertility deities Japanese deities Japanese mythology Nature deities Shinto kami Suwa faith