Winds Begin / Pilgrimage to Suwa / SUWAKO'S OWN
SUWAKO'S OWN · 06/08
Moreya Shrine
Suwako's own seat, and a very Gensokyo loop
Moriya Shrine in Okaya City enshrines the defeated god himself: mountain god, nation-builder, guardian of childbirth. The stone "seat of the great god Moreya" nearby — calligraphed by the 75th Jinchōkan — marks the god's original ground. A 15-minute walk from JR Okaya station, on the way to the lower shrines; the rack holds fan-drawn ema of frogs.
The gods lost their faith; the shrine got it back in a new form. Mountain of Faith is about leaving to find faith; real Suwa is about faith returning because of the story. That loop is the best cover image this site could ask for.
Nearby on the "losers' route": the shrine's old site marker, Fujishima Shrine (one of the legendary duel grounds), and distant Mount Moriya. Walk them against the four shrines' "winners' route" for the complete MoF archaeology.
SOURCES
SOURCESPhotos from Wikimedia Commons under CC licenses; credits beneath each image.