Shimoimai Suwa Shrine

Shimoimai Suwa Shrine: The Guardian Shrine of Lower Imai

Shimoimai Suwa Shrine (下今井諏訪神社, Shimoimai Suwa Jinja) is a Shinto shrine in the Shimoimai district of Imai, Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, whose four Edo-period buildings, led by the Suwa-sha main sanctuary of 1750, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on October 31, 2022.

No record fixes when the shrine was founded. It is the ujigami, or tutelary shrine, of the four hamlets that make up the lower ward of Imai: Higashi-kōchi, Nishi-kōchi, Minami-kōchi and Kita-kōchi. Local people still call it Obusuna-sama, O-myōjin-sama, or simply O-miya, "the shrine." In 1872 it was ranked as a village shrine (sonsha).

The precinct sits near the middle of the settlement, screened by a grove of trees and surrounded by rice paddies on the flat southwestern edge of the Matsumoto basin. Shinshu Matsumoto Airport lies about 1.5 kilometers to the northeast of Shimoimai Suwa Shrine as the crow flies.

Why Three Sanctuaries Stand Side by Side

The first thing most visitors notice at Shimoimai Suwa Shrine is the row of three honden, or main sanctuaries, behind the worship hall. In 1915 three separate shrines, the Suwa-sha, the Hachiman-sha and the Yasaka-sha, were merged, and their buildings were brought together on this one site.

Only the Suwa-sha stood here before the merger. It enshrines Takeminakata, the deity at the center of Suwa worship, together with Kotoshironushi. The Hachiman-sha, dedicated to Homutawake (the deity known as Hachiman), was carried over intact from the hamlet of Minami-kōchi, and the Yasaka-sha, dedicated to Susanoo, came in the same way from Kita-kōchi. All three sanctuaries were repaired in 1938.

Because each hamlet brought its own sanctuary, the three dates are spread across a century: 1750, 1790 and 1851. The buildings share one plan, the one-bay Nagare-zukuri shrine with a long roof sweeping forward over the steps. Look closer, though, and the curve of the Ebi-kōryō beams and the carving over each porch show three different generations of carpenters at work, all inside a single fenced enclosure.

Layout of the Grounds

The precinct of Shimoimai Suwa Shrine is deep rather than wide. Beyond the torii gate stands the large open kagura hall, with a treasure house and the shrine office beside it. Farther in is the worship hall (haiden), and behind that a sacred fence encloses the three sanctuaries.

The Suwa-sha takes the center of the row, with the Hachiman-sha on its north side and the Yasaka-sha on its south. Standing at the worship hall and facing the sanctuaries, the Hachiman-sha is on your right and the Yasaka-sha on your left.

The natural route follows the approach: pass the kagura hall, pay your respects at the worship hall, then step around its side to see the three sanctuaries across the fence. They are viewed from outside the enclosure.

The Four Registered Buildings

Four buildings at Shimoimai Suwa Shrine are Registered Tangible Cultural Properties: the three sanctuaries and the kagura hall. All four were registered on October 31, 2022, under consecutive registration numbers 20-0604 through 20-0607.

• Suwa-sha: built in 1750; the central sanctuary of the precinct, with a building area of 7.0 square meters
• Hachiman-sha: built in 1790 and moved here from Minami-kōchi in 1915; building area 3.9 square meters
• Yasaka-sha: built in 1851 and moved here from Kita-kōchi in 1915; building area 3.4 square meters
• Kagura hall: built in 1860 and reroofed in tile, replacing its original thatch, in 1883; building area 64 square meters

The three sanctuaries were registered as structures that would be difficult to reproduce, and the kagura hall as a building that contributes to the historic landscape. In every case the construction date comes from the building's style together with its ridge tag (Munafuda).

The Autumn Festival

The autumn festival of Shimoimai Suwa Shrine is a large community event at which five lanterns (itsutsu-tōrō) are raised. Matsumoto City cites it as a tradition still kept alive in the district.

No official announcement of the festival date could be found from the shrine or the city, so check locally before planning a visit around it.

Getting to Shimoimai Suwa Shrine and Visiting

By public transport, take the Airport-Imai Line (Kūkō Imai-sen) of the Gurutto Matsumoto city bus network, bound for Shimoimai, from stand 5 at Matsumoto Bus Terminal next to JR Matsumoto Station. Ride to the last stop, Shimoimai. The trip takes about 40 minutes and the adult fare is 650 yen.

Buses run all the way to Shimoimai only on weekdays, a few times a day. On weekends and holidays the line ends at Shinshu Matsumoto Airport, leaving a walk of roughly 1.5 kilometers southwest in a straight line, or a taxi. No official source gives a walking time from the bus stop to the shrine, so check the location on a map beforehand.

No admission fee or opening hours are published. This is a neighborhood shrine, and the buildings are seen from the grounds. Official information on whether the shrine office is staffed, or on parking, could not be found. Nor could any posted restriction on photography, but it is polite to put the camera away during festivals or prayers.