The Chinzei Suwa Shrine has a long and complicated history. It began in 1614, the same year as Tokugawa's Edict Against Christianity. The shrine was established to unite the community against the growing population of Christian-converted Japanese in the area who the number of Shinto and Buddhist populations exceeded, and many local Christians resolved to destroy the shrine's progress until a priest, Aoki Kensei, came to Nagasaki in 1624 and stopped the interference.
The shrine was later used as a census site in 1634 and required Christians to register and renounce their beliefs or face extreme punishments and, in severe cases, death.
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Ride the streetcar to Suwa Jinja and climb the 277 steps to the shrine.