Mishaguji

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Mishaguji (御左口神, 御社宮司, 御射宮司, 御社宮神; katakana: ミシャグジ), also known as Misakuji(n), Mis(h)aguchi or Mishakuji among other variants (see below), is a collective term for deities or spirits (kami) venerated in the Suwa region of Nagano Prefecture, particularly associated with the ritual practices of the Upper Shrine (Kamisha) of Suwa Taisha. These spirits once played a key role in the shrine’s winter and spring religious ceremonies and are also enshrined in numerous smaller shrines throughout the region. In these ceremonies, the Kan-no-Osa or Jinchō (神長) — also known as Jinchōkan (神長官) — a high-ranking ritual priest from the Moriya clan, would summon the Mishaguji into vessels (yorishiro), such as individuals or objects, to be temporarily inhabited during the rite. Upon completion, the spirits were ritually dismissed. Despite their longstanding presence in local tradition, the precise nature and original characteristics of the Mishaguji remain elusive, and no single definitive explanation has been established. Documents produced by the Moriya during the medieval period portray the Mishaguji (御左口神) as lesser deities who form the retinue of Suwa Myōjin (a.k.a. Takeminakata), the deity of Suwa Shrine. By the early modern period, “Mishaguji” came to be interpreted in Suwa as an umbrella term for local kami who were revered as Suwa Myōjin's children (御子神, mikogami). In the early 20th century, folklorists such as Kunio Yanagita and Nogiku Imai observed similarities between Suwa's Mishaguji worship and ishigami / shakujin (石神, "stone deity", beliefs centered around unusual or spiritually charged stones) traditions found elsewhere in east and central Japan, as well as roadside deity cults such as Sai-no-Kami and Dōsojin, found in parts of the Kantō and Kinki regions. These scholars proposed that such beliefs formed part of a widespread, interconnected religious complex, leading to the adoption of the broad category "Mishaguji belief" (ミシャグジ信仰, Mishaguji-shinkō) to encompass these...