Moreya
Moreya or Moriya is a Japanese god who appears in various myths and legends of the Suwa region in Nagano Prefecture. The most famous of such stories is that of his battle against Takeminakata, the god of the Grand Shrine of Suwa.
Moriya is regarded as the mythical ancestor of the Moriya clan, a priestly family that formerly served in the Upper Suwa Shrine, one of the two sub-shrines that make up Suwa Taisha. In addition, he is venerated as a local tutelary deity in a shrine in Okaya City near the Tenryū River, which in later variants of the aforementioned myth is identified as the place where Takeminakata and Moriya fought each other.
Local historians have long interpreted the story of the conflict between the two deities as the mythicization of a historical event in which a powerful local clan that ruled the Lake Suwa region and its vicinity was defeated by invaders who wrested control of the area, although a number of scholars have recently argued that it may actually be of later origin, heavily influenced by or outright based on medieval legends concerning the conflict between Prince Shōtoku and the anti-Buddhist ōmuraji Mononobe no Moriya, who may have been the inspiration for the god's name.
Name
What is currently the most commonly used rendering of Moriya's name in kanji, 洩矢, appear in sources such as the Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba and the genealogical record of the Moriya family compiled during the early Meiji period known as the Jinchō Moriya-shi Keifu. It is also the rendering adopted by Moriya Shrine in Okaya City in Nagano, where the deity is enshrined. A number of other texts meanwhile refer to the god as Moriya Daijin, an epithet more often used for the historical Mononobe no Moriya in medieval and later sources.Background
Suwa Shrine and its priesthood
The Grand Shrine of Suwa in Nagano Prefecture consists of four shrines grouped into two sites: the Upper Shrine, located southeast of Lake Suwa, in the cities of Chino and Suwa, and the Lower Shrine, located in the town of Shimosuwa in the northern side of the lake. Historically, the Upper and Lower Suwa Shrines essentially functioned as two separate entities, each with its own set of shrines, religious ceremonies, and priests.Before the rise of State Shinto in the Meiji period, the position of head priest or Ōhōri in the Upper Shrine was occupied by members of the Suwa clan, also known as the Miwa or Jin. The Suwa traditionally traced its lineage back to the shrine's deity Takeminakata, who is also known as Suwa Daimyōjin, the "Great Deity of Suwa." For a long time, the occupant of the high priestly office was revered as a god in the flesh, the living incarnation or "body" of Suwa Daimyōjin.
The second-highest office was that of the Kan-no-Osa or Jinchō, later known as the Jinchōkan. This priest officiated the Upper Shrine's ceremonies, including the Ōhōri
Mythology
Moriya and Suwa Daimyōjin
The most famous story involving Moriya is that of his battle against Takeminakata / Suwa Daimyōjin, who is said to have come to the Suwa region seeking to dwell there or to conquer it. One version of this myth involves the Suwa deity or his subordinate defeating Moriya, described as armed with a certain kind of iron weapon or implement, using only a wisteria branch or vine. Another variant has Suwa Daimyōjin facing and defeating Moriya on the battlefield."Moriya the evil outlaw" in the ''Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba''
What is perhaps the most well-known version of the story is found in the 1356 text Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba, where it is recorded as the origin myth of Fujishima Shrine in Suwa City, one of the Upper Shrine's auxiliary shrines where its yearly rice-planting ceremony is traditionally held.The myth is also found in a Shinto-Buddhist liturgical eulogy to the Suwa deity, the Suwa Daimyōjin Kōshiki, thought to have been composed by the Ekotoba's author, Suwa Enchū, around the same time as the former text. The story is here integrated into a medieval legend that claims Suwa Daimyōjin to have originally been a king from India who, after performing heroic feats, attained enlightenment and traveled to Japan, where he manifested himself as a local kami. Moriya is identified in this text as an incarnation of the demon king who first antagonized the future Suwa Daimyōjin back in India in the form of a traitorous vassal who fomented a rebellion against the king and then reappeared in Japan as "Moriya the evil outlaw", where he battled the Suwa deity. After being defeated, Moriya ran away and hid in a mountain behind the Upper Shrine called Moriyagatake, known today as Mount Moriya. Moriya, aliased "Yamabe no Moriya" and described as the "god's archnemesis", is compared with Mononobe no Moriya, the "sworn enemy of Buddhism".
"Moriya Daijin" in the ''Suwa Nobushige Gejō''
A document supposedly submitted to the Kamakura shogunate in 1249 by Suwa Nobushige, then Ōhōri of the Upper Shrine, known as the Suwa Nobushige Gejō, features a slightly different version of the myth.In the petition, Nobushige claimed that "a careful inspection of the ancient customs" revealed that the Upper Shrine stands on what was once land owned by 'Moriya Daijin'. He then relates a story about how Suwa Daimyōjin came down from heaven to take possession of Moriya Daijin's territory, but the latter would not let him. The dispute between the two eventually escalated into armed conflict, but as no winner could be declared, they competed in a kind of tug of war using hooks made out of wisteria and iron, in which the Suwa deity emerged the victor. The triumphant Suwa Daimyōjin then banished Moriya and planted the wisteria kagi in front of his newly-built dwelling, the future Upper Shrine. The wisteria miraculously turned into a grove known as the "Forest of Fujisuwa", which in turn gave its name to the region.
In other late medieval texts
The preface of a genealogical record of the Suwa clan thought to date from the 16th century titled the Jinshi / Miwa-shi Keizu states that many conflicting stories concerning the origins of Suwa Daimyōjin exist: the Sendai Kuji Hongi for instance identifies him as Takeminakata, the son of the god Ōkuninushi, but another legend claims that the Suwa deity first appeared during the time of Emperor Yōmei. According to this story, Suwa Daimyōjin, accompanied by an eight-year-old boy named Arikazu, came to Suwa and fought a battle against a certain 'Moriya' at Mount Moriya. Moriya was eventually defeated by "divine soldiers" led by Arikazu, after which Arikazu established a sanctuary on the slopes of the mountain. Suwa Daimyōjin, clothing the boy with his own garments, declared him to be his visible "body" and then disappeared. Suwa Daimyōjin is identified by the story as the manifestation of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, while Arikazu, who became the founding ancestor of the Suwa clan, is identified with Manjushri.The same legend is found in another genealogical text titled the Miwa-ke / Jinke Keizu or the Ōhōri-ke Keizu, and the Ten'in Goroku, a Muromachi period work authored by the Rinzai monk Ten'in Ryūtaku. These two works name Suwa Daimyōjin's opponent 'Moriya Daijin' or 'Daijin Moriya', in agreement with the Nobushige Gejō.
In Edo period texts
A kōshiki from Suwa Shrine surviving in three late 17th century manuscripts titled Suwa Kō-no-shiki describes Moriya Daijin as the tutelary god of Suwa, which was originally named Yamabe. In order to decide who would gain ownership of the land, Suwa Daimyōjin and Moriya Daijin fought each other using wisteria and iron kagi. Suwa Daimyōjin won and planted the wisteria, which eventually became known as Fujishima Myōjin. The name 'Suwa' is claimed here to have originated from Suwa Daimyōjin's exclamation: "Ah, I have won".A version of the myth is recounted in a mid-19th century work by merchant and kokugaku scholar Matsuzawa Yoshiakira, the Ken'yū Hongi. Here, the god Moriya is portrayed as the original ruler of Suwa who prevented the "great god" from entering his domain. In response, the Suwa deity ordered his emissary, Fujishima Daimyōjin, to subjugate Moriya. Moriya, who was no match for Fujishima Daimyōjin, finally surrendered and went away, allowing Suwa Daimyōjin to take over his land.
In the ''Jinchō Moriya-shi Keifu''
In the late 19th century, Moriya Saneyoshi, the 76th Moriya clan head and the last person to serve at the Upper Shrine as Jinchōkan, compiled a genealogy titled the Jinchō Moriya-shi Keifu, which traces the family and their priestly office back to the mythic past.This text is notable for grafting the kuni-yuzuri myth cycle found in the Kojiki and the Sendai Kuji Hongi into the Moriya legend, so that the Suwa deity is now portrayed as coming to Suwa after fleeing from the land of Izumo.
Other myths
Moriya and Yatsukao / Ganigawara
A story found in a late source claims that Takeminakata and/or Moriya fought another local deity named Yatsukao-no-Mikoto, who died during the conflict.A folk version of the story portrays Yatsukao, alias 'Ganigawara no Chōja', as a chieftain and horse breeder whose might and influence rivaled that of Moreya, one of the powerful chiefs of the region. After Moreya swore fealty to Takeminakata after his defeat, Ganigawara held Moreya in contempt for surrendering to the foreign invader and had servants publicly revile him as a coward. Although their insults went unheeded at first, Ganigawara's men eventually resorted to violence, shooting arrows at the palace Moreya and other deities were erecting for Takeminakata. In retaliation, Takeminakata raised up an army and launched an all-out attack against Ganigawara with Moreya at his side. Ganigawara, mortally wounded by an arrow in the ensuing skirmish, repents in his deathbed and entrusts his youngest daughter to Takeminakata. Takeminakata gives her hand in marriage to a god who was injured by Ganigawara's messengers while guarding his palace.