Suwa Shrine (Nagasaki)

History

The official date of construction for Suwa Shrine is 1614, the same year as Tokugawa Ieyasu's Edict against Christianity, although there was little more than a small structure to mark the position of the future shrine at this time. At that time, Nagasaki was home to the largest Christian population in Japan, and had destroyed many of the former Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. The Tokugawa Shogunate had taken power and reversed its friendly policy towards Christianity.  The government had begun forcing Christians to reconvert to the Japanese religions of Buddhism and Shinto. It was thought that establishing a major point of Shinto worship would be important to these efforts, giving the local population a central point of worship and a sense of community.
The temporary structure was frequently attacked by resisting Christians, until 1624 when Aoki Kensei came to Nagasaki.  His religious zeal and skill at organizing, combined with authority granted by the leading Yoshida Shinto council, led to the completion of the main structure of Suwa Shrine. In order to attract attention and encourage attendance at the new shrine, a dramatic yutate-sai ritual, where a priest demonstrates his communion with the kami by plunging his hands into boiling water unharmed, was performed.  In spite of this, as well as the sumo match that followed, very few people came to watch.
In 1634, an edict was issued requiring all people to register at the shrine and be counted.  In addition to this, in another attempt to further increase local participation in shrine events, a great autumn festival was held at the shrine. Both of these events were created in the attempt to discover any remaining Christians, who would not be able to participate in the festival or register at the shrine.  Anyone who failed to do so was arrested, tortured and possibly executed if they did not renounce their Christian faith.
Because Nagasaki was the only place in Japan with an open port, it was considered essential to impress the Dutch and Chinese traders with Japanese culture.  In addition to the grand festival, beginning in 1638 major performances of Noh were also held at Suwa shrine, at the direct command of the Shōgun. These performances continued until 1856, when a major fire at the shrine destroyed most of the expensive Noh masks and props.
From 1871 through 1946, Suwa was officially designated one of the Kokuhei Chūsha (国幣中社), meaning that it stood in the mid-range of ranked, nationally significant shrines.
Suwa Shrine survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.  It is thought to have survived intact due to its strategic location in the central part of Mount Tamazono-san's southern flank, although in the aftermath of the bomb local residents were quick to note that while the famous Urakami Cathedral and surrounding Catholic neighborhoods were obliterated, the Shinto shrine still stood.
This was considered to be significant by the survivors of the bombing, showing the power of the native Japanese kami as opposed to the imported Christian god.  In addition, priests from Suwa Shrine took an active role in the rebuilding of Nagasaki, including consecrating the land and purifying structures that still stood.
In 1984, a large-scale reconstruction repaired and modernized the shrine, installing such conveniences as air conditioners and glass windows. This reconstruction was controversial, as some felt that modern conveniences had no place at a traditional shrine.

Stop lions

Another unique feature of Suwa shrine are the "stop lions".  They are two stone-carved guardian lions, and tradition holds that if one wishes to stop a behavior, such as smoking, one should tie a piece of paper or string around their front legs and pray for their assistance.