[8][9] In another myth, the god is said to have chosen an eight-year-old boy to become his priest (祝, hōri; historical orthography: hafuri) and living incarnation by clothing the latter with his own garments.

[15][16][11][17] The Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba (1356) for example relates:At the beginning of the god's manifestation, he took off his robe, put them on an eight year old boy, and dubbed him 'great priest' (Ōhōri).

This [boy] is Arikazu (有員), the priest of the sacred robe (御衣祝 Misogihōri), the founding ancestor of the Miwa (Jin) clan.However, a brief text attached to a genealogical record of the Suwa clan discovered in the Ōhōri's residence in 1884[18] instead portrays Arikazu as a descendant of Kumako (神子 or 熊子), a son of a kuni no miyatsuko (provincial governor) of Shinano Province, who is claimed to have founded the Upper Shrine during the reign of Emperor Yōmei (585-587).

In the second year of Emperor Yōmei, Kumako built a sanctuary at the foot of the mountain at the southern side of the lake.Another genealogical record, that of the Aso clan (阿蘇氏) of Aso Shrine in Kyushu (discovered in 1956), similarly identifies Otoei (乙頴) - there given the alias 'Kumako' - as the "Ōhōri of the great deity of Suwa" (諏訪大神大祝) and narrates the same legend as those found above.

[30][31] Though officially the Upper Shrine's chief priest and as incarnate deity, an object of worship, the Suwa Ōhōri had little, if any, actual power over the shrine's affairs, which rested in the hands of the Moriya Jinchōkan, with his unique relationship to the Mishaguji and his knowledge of closely guarded secret traditions passed down via word of mouth only to the heir to the office.

[35] Inside this enclosure, the Jinchōkan dressed the boy in full ritual attire: traditional makeup (oshiroi, ohaguro, beni and mayuzumi), a dull yellow-green sokutai, a hakama, and a crown (kanmuri).

[40] As time went on the ritual became increasingly simplified and later, was supposedly even omitted altogether, with the ōhōri simply assuming the position without any ceremony.

[42] The Ōhōri was expected to live a life of ritual purity and was also forbidden to step outside the boundaries of Suwa region under pain of divine punishment.

Reflecting its being the residence of an incarnate deity, the Maemiya area and its vicinity was known during the Middle Ages as the Gōbara (神原), the 'god's field'.

[46] Originally, the deceased priest was buried wearing hunting attire (such as that supposedly worn by Suwa Daimyōjin) and with hair and beard kept unshaven.

In the meantime, other male members of the clan aside from the ōhōri - who cannot step outside the boundaries of the region, as well as come into contact with sources of impurity such as the flesh and blood of men or horses - began to pursue military careers.

Tamenaka served under Minamoto no Yoshiie during the Zenkunen War (1051-1063) under the orders of his father, who could not participate himself due to his priestly status.

Tamenaka's eventual suicide out of shame after his subordinates had a violent quarrel with Minamoto no Yoshimitsu's men during a feast held by the latter was considered to be divine punishment for his violation of the ban.