A thousand years of the Moriya

The Moriya held the office of Jinchōkan — keepers of the Mishaguji rites, the Ōhōri's enthronement, and the secret craft of calling wind and rain — from antiquity until Meiji. The division was stark: the Ōhōri was the god; the Jinchōkan was the one who made the god manifest. ZUN's coinage "kazehafuri" (wind priestess) preserves the old Suwa word for a ritual master (hafuri).

In 1535, Jinchōkan Moriya Yorizuma mediated the peace between Takeda Nobutora and Suwa Yorimitsu, ringing the shrine's ancient iron bell to seal the vow. The family cooperated with Takeda Shingen's conquest, received an honorific character from his name, and held dual priesthood ever after. Meiji (1871) dissolved the old offices, and the orally transmitted rites ended — the direct source of Sanae's "one-heir secret art" lore.

The family is still real. The 78th head, Sanae Moriya — our Sanae's namesake — was an elementary school principal in Tokyo, retiring in 2006 to lecture on the environment. The family estate is now the Jinchōkan Moriya Archives (Chino City, Miyagawa 389-1, next to the Maemiya; closed Mondays, ~¥200) — for a Sanae fan, effectively the family records office.