Suwa clan

The Suwa clan (諏訪氏, Suwa-shi), also known as the Jin or Miwa clan (神氏, Miwa uji / Miwa-shi or Jinshi) was a Japanese shake and samurai family. Originating from the area encompassing Lake Suwa in Shinano Province (modern-day Nagano Prefecture), it was originally a family of priests who served at the Upper Shrine of Suwa located on the southwestern side of the lake. By the Kamakura period, it thrived as a prominent samurai clan with close ties to the shogunate. Surviving the fall of both the Kamakura shogunate and the Southern Imperial Court which it supported, its feud with local rival clans, and frequent clashes with its neighbor in Kai, the Takeda clan, during the Sengoku period (which ended in the extinction of the main family), by the Edo period the clan had split into two branches: one ruling the Suwa Domain of Shinano as daimyō, with the other continuing to serve as priests of Suwa Shrine until the Meiji era.