Suwa Moriya-no-Kami Legend

The Suwa Moriya legend recounts a contest between Moriya-no-Kami, the resident deity of Suwa, and Takeminakata-no-Kami, who in the upper scroll of the Kojiki (712 CE) flees to Suwa after defeat by Takemikazuchi at Inasa-no-Hama. According to the Suwa tradition, Moriya-no-Kami meets the incoming god with iron rings (tetsuwa), while Takeminakata wields wisteria vines. Moriya is defeated and submits; from then Takeminakata is enshrined as Suwa Daimyojin at the Upper Shrine, while the descendants of Moriya, the Moriya house, serve as senior priests (jincho-kan) and conduct the older substrate of ritual. The narrative preserves a rare house-lineage tradition outside the Kiki, combining the Izumo-line incoming-god story with indigenous ritual. The site is Suwa Taisha Upper Shrine (Honmiya in Suwa City, Maemiya in Chino City). Documentary sources include the upper scroll of the Kojiki, the Suwa Daimyojin Ekotoba (Suwa Enchu, 1356), the Jincho-kan Moriya-ke Monjo, the Engishiki Jinmyocho (927 CE) entry for Minakatatomi Jinja, and Suwa Taisha shrine records.