[Aizumine April 2025 issue] Beyond the Shrine and the Calendar

Let me mention one more shrine related to Hoshina. It is “Aizu’s main shrine, Suwa Shrine.” (※Suwa – Following the New Edition Aizu Fudoki. Hereafter referred to as Fudoki.)
This Suwa Shrine strongly reflects the period of political chaos around the time of the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, and there is no denying the feeling that it has brought that chaos all the way to Aizu. The Fudoki states, “Long ago, when the Ashina clan came to Ogawa Village, Kawanuma County, to subjugate the Shingu clan and retreated to their camp, a <Suwa Shrine Priest> appeared carrying a spear and declared, ‘Suwa is a war god. This is a sign of good fortune,’ so when they put him at the head of the army and went to battle, the Shingu clan surrendered.” So the Ashina clan invited Suwa Myojin from Suwa Taisha Shrine.
However, the “hoko” (floor) is reminiscent of the “hoko cedar” of Hachiman Taro (Minamoto) Yoshiie (Chikatsu Shrine, Daigo Town, Ibaraki Prefecture) and the cedar of Fushimi Inari Taisha (Keitoku Inari Shrine), and while it does not mention the “sanagihoko” (floor) of Suwa Ninomiya Shimosha Ono Shrine, it is said to have been “invited” to the reign of Emperor Fushimi (1292, Einin 2). However, the question remains as to whether the “Suwa Taisha Shimosha” itself was actually transferred to Aizu. This is because the first thought is that this “Shrine Priest of Suwa” was the Shrine Priest of the “Shimosha of Suwa” where Kiso (Minamoto) Yoshinaka had married into the family. In other words, it is speculated that after Yoshinaka was killed, they were desperately trying to escape to Aizu to avoid the “Oohafuri” of the Shimosha Shrine. The “Hoshinato” was Yoshinaka’s vanguard, and they defeated the Aizu Keiji Temple monk soldiers (shūdō), and if they had joined the Ashina clan, even the Shingu clan would have had no choice but to withdraw.
The fact that the “Yamagun Keitokugumi Shingu” people later moved to Kurokawa (Aizu) castle town may have reflected this.
The reason why I raise such a question is because I cannot find any reason for the sudden creation of the “Aizu calendar” or “Suwa calendar,” one of the three major Japanese calendars. According to the Fukushima Prefectural Library, the origin of the Aizu calendar dates back to the Eikyo era (1429-1441), but the Aizu Suwa Shrine already had the three “Iwai Hafuri” of Kasahara, Saku, and Suwa, and since the “era name” itself is a “calendar,” it seems that making a calendar was indispensable for the “Iwai Shinto Ritual.” The lower shrine of the Taisha Shrine has a spring shrine and an autumn shrine. It can be said to be the calendar itself, but it is unclear whether the “Sakureki” originated from the Taisha Shrine, but the fear above has become a reality, and the Fudoki records that “Suwa no Oiwai” was “given death by the Kamakura Udaisho family (Minamoto no Yoritomo).” It is said that his eldest son was hidden in “Onomura, Sagami Province,” and came to Aizu when he grew up to be enshrined, but it is likely that it is not Onomura, Sagami Province, but Kami-Onomura and Shimo-Onomura in Izu Province. It is “Kawai, Shimo-Onomura, Kamo-gun, Mame Province, Kamo-gun, Mame Province.” Hafuriko was brought up by the Kawai family, Mishima calendar makers at Mishima Taisha Shrine. I strongly believe that it was thanks to this upbringing that the Sakureki calendar was later to see the light of day in Aizu as well.
The Muromachi Shogunate had made more of an effort than Yoshida Shinto, and the Edo Shogunate had received special recommendation from Yoshikawa Koretari, which meant that the Suwa Taiho was reborn in Aizu, or rather in Japan, as the embodiment of Shinto, the priest Suwa Omi.