Possible influences by the Chinese theory of the five elements and the concept of the Earthly Branches in the ceremony of erecting "onbashira" – at least that of the Upper Shrine – have been observed. For instance, the ritual roughly reflects the elements' cycle of generation (wood begets fire, fire begets earth, earth begets metal), in that the Upper Shrine's "onbashira" are made out of trees from a mountain to the east (associated with the element of wood) and are brought to the shrine, located south (= fire) of Lake Suwa (= north, water) in order to replace old "onbashira" (= earth), which are taken down and brought to Hachiryū Shrine in the former village of Chū-kaneko (中金子, 金 = metal), now a part of Suwa City. The custom of hammering ornamental sickles ("nagikama") to the trees selected to become "onbashira" has also been linked to the idea of the element of metal overcoming wood, with the sickle being thought to pacify or 'cut' violent winds, which is associated with the wood element (cf. Suwa Daimyōjin being a wind god).