Tag: Okinawa

Ryukyu Religion (Part 1)

January 15, 2022 / John D. / 0 Comments

The ubiquitous Okinawan *shisa* is a guardian lion-dog, usually seen in pairs. One has its mouth open to ward off evil spirits, and one with mouth shut is to keep in good spirits.

About an hour north of Naha Airport is Ryukyu Mura (Ryukyu Village). It is a showcase of life in the days of the Ryukyu Kingdom (1429-1879), when the independent country was a tribute state of China before coming under the sway of the Satsuma domain.

As well as buildings in traditional style, there are examples of the crafts and customs. This includes a charming dance show of elegant movements to the Polynesian sounds of Okinawan music.

In one of the compounds is a display of Ryukyu religion. This is of particular interest because of the light it sheds on the southern strand of overseas influences that were moulded into what we now know as Shinto. As Fabio Rambelli writes in The Sea and the Sacred in Japan: “Many folklorists, beginning with Yamagita Kunio and Origuchi Shinobu, have taken Okinawan religion as a remnant of ancient Japanese religion and, often, as the model for Japanese religion as a whole.”

Entrance to the compound is marked by a torii and banyan tree

At the entrance to the compound is a board which states as follows:

Utaki is the symbolic place in a village which is the sacred place to pray to ancestral monument or guardian of the village. Every village has one. Rocks and trees are at the centre before which incense is placed.

The holy tree is called Kuba (or Shuro palm tree). Ibi is the place where gods come down and only female shamans can enter. Rituals in the shrine are called Kami Asagi Tun located close to Ibi. Kami Ashagi Tun is built low to prevent animals entering.

Banyan trees come from India and south-east Asia. Here the roots of a big mother tree are connected with a child tree. The board continues: “It is believed that a Kijimuna (fairy) lives in old banyan tree. Banyan trees are used for lacquer ware and manure, and the tree bark are used for remedy. The parent tree is over 180 years old.”

To one side is a small section devoted to religious festivals. A notice board states that ‘Most festivals in Okinawa are dedicated to god of nature and ancestors for harvest and health. HA-RI (Festival for ocean god, Niraikanai) in every fishing port.’ (sic)

What looks like a giant *shimenawa* is in fact a long rope used for tug of war. Though not explained, such contests often featured in ancient religions as a means of divination. It is registered in *The Guinness Book of Records*.

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For other pieces on Okinawan religion, see here on the Dragon King and the first of five articles on Okinawa. Or click here for a piece on Miyakojima. Or here on Amami Oshima.

Okinawa’s Zamami

December 14, 2021 / John D. / 0 Comments

As the days close in on a pandemic year, Okinawa continues to enchant with its ocean blues, golden sands and healing greens. It is the off-season so there are few around to distract from the immersion in nature. Here indeed one feels an underlying divinity.

As the ferry nears Zamami, a distinctive red torii comes into view. This being Japan, it seems an integral part of the landscape. Yet those who know their history will be aware that until an invasion in 1609, the Ryukyu Kingdom was an independent entity, trading with both China and Japan. Following the invasion the islands came under the sway of the Satsuma domain, and not until 1879 were they officially integrated into Japan as Okinawa Prefecture.

Zamami is a small island accessed from Naha, with a population of just under 1000. As far as I could tell, the Shinto shrine at the harbour is the only one on the island.

Inside was a quite unconventional arrangement of coral and implements, with what looked like a kamidana and ofuda on the floor in the corner.

A bilingual notice on the exterior explained that the name was Ibimiya and that it was dedicated to a sea deity that was also guardian of the village. In March there is a celebration to pray for safe voyages and large catches. And in August is another ceremony for a good harvest and safe voyages.

The August ceremony seems particularly intriguing. Fish and bento are on sale, and kaminchu (priestess-shamans) offer thanks for the past year and prayers for the coming one. There is too a boat race and a parade featuring Fukurokuju, one of the Seven Lucky Deities personifying longevity.

Fukurokuju came originally from China, which makes me wonder whether, like the kaminchu, he predates the coming of Shinto. Either way the August festival sounds an ideal occasion for those who like heat, beaches and an unusual festival. (I wish I could tell you the date, but all I got was ‘August (lunar calendar).’

Okinawa’s Iejima

December 8, 2021 / John D. / 0 Comments

Green Shinto has written of the attractions of Okinawa before (see the relevant category to the right). Blessed by sea, sand and sun, the islands feel close to the spirit world and it is said that in the religion of the Ryukyu days lies part of the roots of Shinto. Like Donald Richie in his celebrated journey to The Inland Sea, I feel as if I’m travelling back to an earlier, unbuttoned and more carefree version of Japan.

Just as pagan rites underlie Christmas and Yuletide, so does the old Ryukyu religion underlie the modern forms of Shinto in these offshore islands. What some call a jinja (Shinto shrine with torii), locals call an utaki and they worship their own gods there with bundles of incense.

Mt Gusuku (172m) has long been a landmark for sailors and is clearly visible from the mainland. It played an important role in WW2 and pockmarks from the fighting can still be seen. From the top is a 360 degree panorama. Because of its distinctive shape and dominating presence, it is seen by the island population (4,260) as a sacred mountain.

At the base of the mountain is a torii and Shinto shrine (pictured above), at the back of which is a Ryukyu altar with a simple rock for altar and direct worship in the traditional way. From what I could gather, the Shinto version was put up in 1969 on the Ryukyu sacred site, just as Christians built churches on pagan sacred sites.

Is it a shrine? Ara Utaki certainly looks that way from the bottom, but when you climb the steps what do you see….

The best ever example of yohai (distant worship) I have come across in Japan. As the name suggests, Ara Utaki is a traditional sacred site and the torii a recent addition, presumably by newcomers to the island. Dedicated to sea guardians, the utaki is close to a bay used by boats in former times. Direct worship of a mountain does not come better framed than this.

Three incense holders lined up in front of a simple stone altar at Ara Utaki. A notice to one side asks for the incense to be cleared up after worshipping (not a traditional custom).

Further along the island is a different kind of sacred site, called Niyathia Cave. From above it looks nothing special, which made it perfect for use as an airraid shelter in WW2.

At the entrance is a shrine made of stone. Notice the simplicity of the focus for worship – a true spirit symbol (see Green Shinto entries for rock worship). Caves, mountains and the sea; put them together with female shamans and the island encapsulates all the ingredients of the appealing Ryukyu religion of old.

The cave is huge – and staggeringly beautiful.

In one part of the cave is a notice saying the spot is particularly sacred because spirits descend there – and you can see why.

Not far away is a Rinzai temple founded in 1554 by someone ‘sympathetic to local belief’. The syncretic result is evident in its Gongen-do hall with Shinto mirror, which stands near to a more modern Kannon-do. As well as amulets, the Zen temple offers bilingual fortune slips.

A lucky future marks a fitting end to a happy island visit.

Okinawa 5: Seifa Utaki

December 4, 2012 / John D. / 0 Comments

Opening into a sacred world

Seifa Utaki is the Ise of Okinawa. It’s a sacred site associated with royal patronage that lay at the apex of the Ryukyu kingdom’s religious structure. I think of all the spiritual places I’ve visited in Japan, this is the one that speaks to me most clearly of ‘a natural religion’. It’s as if nature herself had carved a cathedral out of sacred rock and subtropical forest.

Nature itself adds decoration to the site’s surrounds

The site lies south-east from Naha, on the Chinen peninsula which is associated in mythology with the very origins of the country. Legend tells of how the first of the islands to be created was that of Kudaka, which lies offshore from Seifa Utaki. From there the gods proceeded to the main island itself. No doubt there is some folk memory here of the arrival of ancestors from the southern seas, who settled first on the outlying island. In such a way origins are made sacred.

In the past only priestesses could enter Seifa Utaki (the king and any workmen who entered had to tie their kimonos in female fashion). At the head stood Kikoe-Okimi, a virgin relative of the king dedicated to the gods. The system of Kikoe-Okimi was in effect from 1470-1869, during which time there was a total of fifteen in all. They were responsible for divination and the great rites of the realm which ensured its stability and prosperity. Like the Saio at Ise, the office is probably a legacy from the shamaness-queen who ruled the country in ancient times.

The Kikoe-Okimi lived not far from the royal palace, travelling along the coast to Seifa Utaki for important rituals. Beneath her was a hierarchy of priestesses, starting with the noro who had control of up to five villages. Other ranks included the yuta and kamichuu, responsible for such duties as divination.

Near the entrance of Seifa Utaki is a spring, where priestesses would purify themselves before entering the sacred precincts. The altars and different areas are named after rooms in the king’s palace at Shuri-jo, showing the close links with royalty. The most holy part of the complex is a triangular opening. leading to s small altar space from which there are views of Kudaka Island. It is as if an orifice opens up into a rock womb, offering a secret view of life’s origins. Here in this innermost recess, the priestesses fostered the renewal and rebirth of the nation.

View towards distant Kudaka island, like a mirage on the horizon, mythic origin of Okinawa where the ancestors of ancient times first arrived

Unearthed items here include gold, celadon porcelain, coins and magatama jewellery, indicative of the precious offerings made. Outside the triangular opening are two large stalactites, from which water drips almost imperceptibly into bowls placed below. This liquid essence, wrung as it were from out of the very fabric of the rock, was considered holy water with magical qualities and used both for divination and in rituals to enhance spiritual power.

In Ryukyu times the site was a place of pilgrimage for king and commoner alike. Still today worshippers come here to pray, and it is here too that the leaders of extended families pay respects on behalf of their kin. Before the war the practice took place once a year, I was told, but now some only perform the ritual once every twelve years on completion of the cycle of the Chinese zodiac.

I was somewhat dismayed to find the atmosphere changed since when I last visited Seifa Utaki, with a welcome centre and guides in attendance. Since it became a World Heritage Site in 2000, visitors have increased dramatically. Now people walk around talking loudly on mobile phones, and parents yell out to errant children.

‘Seifa Utaki is a special sacred prayer site, not a tourist spot,’ said mayor Keishun Koya recently. He has a good point. One of the measures to protect its sanctity is to close it for six days a year according to the lunar calendar by which Ryukyu rites are fixed. It will allow worshippers to pray in peace amidst the immemorial rocks.

What makes Seifa Utaki special is the sensitive interaction of natural features and spiritual expression. Mystery, awe and wonder – these are precious feelings we’ve lost in the comforts of modern life. They can still be found at Seifa Utaki however, if you take care to visit first thing in the morning or linger to the last in the evening dusk. It’s at such times one can appreciate just why this was the Ryukyu’s ‘supreme sacred site’. It’s special indeed.

Ufuguni, one of the altars which served for the preparation of food

Two stalactites that drip holy water into bowls placed below

The awesomeness of nature is ever present

Okinawa 4: Shrines

December 4, 2012 / John D. / 0 Comments

An Okinawan village shrine (photo in the Nakajin Castle Museum)

Different styles of village gathering places

At Nakijin Castle on the Okinawan main island, there is a museum with an exhibition of Ryukyu practices. It includes pictures of kamiasagi, which are gathering places for religious ceremonies. These are not to be confused with the more widely known utaki sacred sites. So what’s the difference?

The utaki were special sites where the spirits dwelled or into which they descended. As such they were off-limits to ordinary folk: only the priestesses could go there for special rites. These numinous sites were often copses or springs, far beyond the village boundaries.

The kamiasagi on the other hand were not hallowed ground as such, but places where gatherings could be held. Since they were easily accessible by villagers, they acted as an intermediary point between the village and the sacred site. Not every village had one, I was told, but most did.

In response to my question about how far Ryukyu religion was still being practised, the woman running the museum told me that ordinary people still continued former practices but that the noro (priestesses) were slowly dying out. In her own village for instance, the noro was eighty years old and with no one likely to succeed her.

Once the noro had received an official stipend, but this had been stopped in Meiji times and now they had to make do as they could. For the young it was not an attractive proposition, and the daughters of noro who used to take over the family tradition often choose to move away or take up other career paths.

All dressed up at Futenma Shrine for the 7 – 5 – 3 ceremony

But even without the noro, Ryukyu practices live on. I came across an interesting example at Futenma Shrine, where 7-5-3 celebrations were in full flow. which was established as an outpost of Honshu’s sovereignty in Edo times, dedicated to the Kumano kami, and is considered one of the eight major shrines of the Ryukyus.

While most visitors carried out prayers in the conventional Shinto manner, two locals squatted before the shrine and directed their prayers in a different direction. It turned out that they were worshipping more ancient gods than those of the Jinja, for the shrine is built above an extensive cave (280 meters long), which was sacred to locals before the coming of the Satsuma invaders.

Eerie and atmospheric, the cave has a numinous quality that makes one wonder why it is kept locked up (you have to get permission from the shrine office to visit). It’s used once a year for a ceremony at which some 800 people attend, and it honours two ancient kami, Megami and Sennen (The Old Mountain Man).

Megami was a beautiful but pious woman, who wished not to be seen. However, the husband of her younger sister caught sight of her when he peeked into her house, as a result of which she rushed out and took refuge in the cave, never to be seen again. (A very Taoist tale, methinks, with overtones of Amaterasu’s Rock Cave myth.)

The legend of Sennen, the Old Mountain Man, has to do with the incarnation of a spirit who visited a poor woman, whose life was one of sacrifice and deprivation. As a test of her honesty, he gave her a wrapped item which he told her was valuable and asked her to keep it for him. Despite his disappearance, the woman did all she could to find and return the item to him, as a reward for which he presented her with gold. As a token of their gratitude, she and her husband built a shrine in the cave to the Sennen.

The cave, and the shrine above it, stand right next to the fenced gateway of the US military base at Futenma. It’s an odd juxtaposition. Here in a nutshell the history of the island is laid out, from the myths of Ryukyu times, to domination by Satsuma, to integration into Japan, and to American hegemony.

A shrine that speaks to another world turns out to have much to say about this world too.

The Futenma cave: a special space only opened on request

Haunting and atmospheric: the Futenma cave is right next to the US military base

Meanwhile, above the cave the 7-5-3 ceremonies were being carried out in true Shinto style

Okinawa 3: Way of the Dead

December 3, 2012 / John D. / 2 Comments

Okinawan family tomb

Driving around Okinawa, one can’t help noticing the many distinctively large tombs. They resemble small houses, with a porch and courtyard. Some are turtle shaped and nestle into the slope of the earth, as if wombs. The dead who are buried here will be reborn in spirit form.

For Lafcadio Hearn, ancestor worship was not only the defining characteristic of religion throughout East Asia, but the origin of religion in all countries. In early societies ghosts were regarded as the spirits of dead family members, who were honoured as immortal beings with the power to protect and punish. In this way ghosts became gods.

In the case of Okinawa, treasuring the memory of past generations is given expression both within the house in the form of a family altar and outside in the form of family graves. The altar, known as a buchudan, is ostensibly Buddhist but contains no buddhas. Instead it houses memorials of the deceased.

Funeral urns

After death, the cremated remains of the deceased are placed in funeral urns and taken to the family tomb. Twice a year prayers and offerings are made there by the extended family of descendants. The gatherings can be sizable, involving anything up to thirty or more. Offerings are made of rice, water and saké. Expressions of gratitude are given, as well as solicitations for blessings. Afterwards food and drink are shared between the living and the dead, much as in the manner of a wake.

Though ancestor worship has been carried out in some form or other since ancient times, the large tombs used now were not introduced until the seventeenth century, influenced by the customs of south China. The oldest tomb dates back to 1687, and in former times the deceased were carried to the grave in a form of palanquin called ‘gan’. Once a mere mortal, the family member had passed over into the form of a higher being.

How many urns are kept within the family tomb, I couldn’t hep wondering? When I asked a friendly waiter about it, he told me that in his family at least the tradition was to keep as many urns as possible within the tomb, and that when there was no more space the oldest would be smashed up and the contents mixed into the floor of the tomb. Dust returns to dust, but within the safekeeping of the family.