Japan Guide
Kyūshū
Suwa-jinja
Nagasaki's major shrine, Suwa-jinja is on the hillside, at the top of steep steps. Ask at the office (beside the bronze horse by Kitamura Seibō) for their comprehensive English brochure. Suwa-jinja was founded in 1625 when the shogunate was promoting Shintoism in opposition to the Christian Church. Its main hall, rebuilt in 1869, is fresh and simple, but for most foreigners its greatest attraction is the English-language fortune papers on sale beside the collecting box (¥200). The grounds are scattered with unusual subsidiary shrines, notably two koma-inu (guardian lions) known as the "stop lions", where people vowing to give up unwanted habits fasten paper strings around the front legs, like plaster casts; you'll find them in a small garden to the left as you face the main hall.
Each autumn, Suwa-jinja hosts the famous Kunchi Matsuri (October 7–9). This festival is believed to have originated in 1633 when two courtesans performing a Nō dance attracted huge crowds during celebrations to mark the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. Gradually, European and Chinese elements were incorporated – this was one of the few occasions when Dutch merchants were allowed to leave Dejima – and the jollities now consist of dragon dances and heavy floats, some fashioned as Chinese and Dutch ships, being spun round outside the shrine.