Okinawa: Local Specialties, Souvenirs, Shrines & Temples, Sightseeing | Japan 47 Prefecture Guide
Okinawa was a separate country, the Ryukyu Kingdom, until 1879. The premises here are not the same as in the forty-six prefectures this series has covered.
Local Specialties
Awamori is a shochu made with black koji, in a single all-koji mash. The grain is Thai rice.
Black koji produces a great deal of citric acid, which keeps the mash from spoiling. It was the solution for making liquor in a hot place. And kusu is awamori aged three years or more. Some households keep a jar going, topping it up across generations. The idea of inheriting liquor barely exists in any other prefecture.
Goya champuru, soki soba, rafute, agu pork, local seafood, and shikuwasa.
Souvenirs
Chinsuko, purple sweet potato confectionery, awamori. And a yachimun shisa.
Chinsuko comes from the court confectionery of the Ryukyu royal government, made from wheat flour, sugar and lard alone. It was a sweet for receiving envoys from China.
Sacred Sites | Shrines & Temples
Sefa-utaki and Sonohyan-utaki Ishimon and Sanguui is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 30 shrines and temples worth knowing in Okinawa.
Sefa-utaki(Nanjo)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / The holiest site of the Ryukyu Kingdom / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / Historic Site / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: good fortune, rebirth and renewal
The centre of belief in Okinawa is neither shrine nor temple but the utaki: a place with no building, where a forest or a rock itself is worshipped. The same form survives on the mainland at Omiwa Jinja and Munakata Taisha, but in Okinawa it has continued as the mainstream. Through the triangular gap where two great rocks lean together, Kudakajima can be seen.
Naminouegu(Naha)Shinto shrine / First of the Eight Shrines of Ryukyu / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: safe voyages, warding off misfortune
It stands on a cliff, so that worship faces out towards the paradise held to lie beyond the sea.
Sonohyan-utaki Ishimon(Naha)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / National Treasure / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: good fortune
A stone gate beside Shuri Castle, and a National Treasure. Here the king prayed for safety when leaving the castle. Beyond the gate is an utaki, and the gate itself is for worshipping through.
Kudakajima(Nanjo)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / The island of the gods / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: rebirth and renewal, good fortune
The island where the gods who created Ryukyu are said to have come down. It lies in view from Sefa Utaki, and the whole island is held to be sacred.
Futenmagu(Ginowan)Shinto shrine / One of the Eight Shrines of Ryukyu / Central Okinawa Island / Blessings: love and relationships, warding off misfortune
A limestone cave lies behind the hall, and the cave itself is the object of worship. It takes the form of a shrine, but what is inside is the faith of the utaki.
Sanguui(Nanjo)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: good fortune
A triangular space where two great rocks lean together. Kudakajima can be seen from within.
Okinogu(Naha)Shinto shrine / One of the Eight Shrines of Ryukyu / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: safe voyages
It originally stood at Naha port. One of the eight shrines of Ryukyu.
Okinawa Gokoku Jinja(Naha)Shinto shrine / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: warding off misfortune
It adjoins Naminoue-gu.
Shirumichu(Uruma)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Central Okinawa Island / Blessings: safe childbirth, love and relationships
The cave where the ancestors of Ryukyu are said to have lived. A faith for conceiving a child.
Harimizu Utaki(Miyakojima)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Miyako / Blessings: good fortune
The site of the creation myth of Miyakojima, and held to be the most important utaki on the island.
Torinji(Ishigaki)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Yaeyama Islands / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The oldest temple in the Yaeyama Islands. Its Nio figures were swept away by a tsunami and are said to have come back from the sea.
Tindahanata(Yonaguni)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Yaeyama Islands / Blessings: mountain worship
The westernmost island in Japan. A clifftop lookout that was a place of prayer from ancient times.
Naminoue(Naha)Shinto shrine / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: safe voyages
It stands on a Ryukyu limestone cliff jutting into the sea, facing the other world beyond the water.
Sueyoshigu(Naha)Shinto shrine / One of the Eight Shrines of Ryukyu / Important Cultural Property / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: warding off misfortune
It stands at the end of a stone stairway through the forest. A stone ramp of a form peculiar to Ryukyu survives.
Shikinagu(Naha)Shinto shrine / One of the Eight Shrines of Ryukyu / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: safe childbirth
Its deity was originally a cave. One of the eight shrines of Ryukyu.
Asato Hachimangu(Naha)Shinto shrine / One of the Eight Shrines of Ryukyu / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: victory
The only Hachimangu among the eight shrines of Ryukyu.
Enkakuji(Naha)Buddhist temple / Historic Site / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
The funerary temples of the Ryukyu royal house. They were lost in the Battle of Okinawa, and the Hojo bridge and other remains survive.
Gokokuji (Naha)(Naha)Buddhist temple / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Held to be the oldest temple in Okinawa. Bettelheim stayed here.
Kin Kannonji(Kin)Buddhist temple / Registered Tangible Cultural Property / Central Okinawa Island / Blessings: warding off misfortune
It stands above a limestone cave, where awamori is laid down to age.
Futenma Cave(Ginowan)Shinto shrine / Central Okinawa Island / Blessings: love and relationships
A limestone cave 280 metres long. You enter from behind the hall.
Hakusui Utaki(Yaese)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: good harvests
An utaki that guards the village's water source.
Chinen Ukka(Nanjo)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Historic Site / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: good harvests, rebirth and renewal
A spring carrying the tradition of the beginning of rice growing. A sacred place recorded in the Ryukyu-koku Yuraiki.
Tojinbaka(Ishigaki)Buddhist temple / Yaeyama Islands / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
A memorial to shipwrecked Chinese labourers. A shrine in brilliant colour.
Ogamijima(Miyakojima)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Miyako / Blessings: safe voyages
The whole island is held sacred, and many places remain closed to entry.
Fubo Utaki(Nanjo)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
One of the seven great utaki of Ryukyu. To this day no one at all may enter.
Izena Tamaudun(Izena)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Important Cultural Property / Outer islands / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
The tomb of the ancestors of the second Sho dynasty, built against the rock.
Yuinchi(Nanjo)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: business prosperity
A place of worship whose name means filled to overflowing with abundance.
Hinukan(Kumejima)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Outer islands / Blessings: fire protection
Okinawan houses keep a place in the kitchen for the god of fire. This preserves an old form of it.
Tamagusuku(Nanjo)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Southern Okinawa Island / Blessings: good fortune
The gateway is cut in the shape of a heart, and the sun of the summer solstice comes straight through it.
Karaukaa(Nakijin)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / Northern Okinawa Island / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
A place of worship surviving inside the castle. A castle was also a place of prayer.
Sightseeing
Iriomotejima and Katsuren-jo and Nakagusuku-jo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Breakdown: castle 6, historic townscape 4, nature / scenery 6, industrial heritage 1. 24 places to see in Okinawa.
Gyokusendo(Nanjo)nature / scenery / Southern Okinawa Island
A limestone cave five kilometres long. It shows how an island of Ryukyu limestone came to be.
Heiwa no Ishiji(Itoman)other / Southern Okinawa Island / 1995
It carves the name of every person who died in the Battle of Okinawa, regardless of nationality, soldier or civilian.
Bise Fukugi(Motobu)historic townscape / Northern Okinawa Island
Trees planted as a windbreak became the hedge that shelters the village.
Himeyuri no To(Itoman)other / Southern Okinawa Island / 1946
It carries the memory of the Battle of Okinawa.
Iriomotejima(Taketomi)nature / scenery / Yaeyama Islands / UNESCO World Heritage (Natural) / UNESCO World Heritage
Ninety percent of the island is primeval forest. The Iriomote cat is a Special Natural Monument.
Katsuren-jo(Uruma)castle / Central Okinawa Island / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / UNESCO World Heritage / 13th century
A Roman coin was excavated here, showing how far trade by sea reached.
Kumejima(Kumejima)historic townscape / Outer islands
The island of Kumejima pongee. Each village keeps its utaki.
Nakagusuku-jo(Kitanakagusuku)castle / Central Okinawa Island / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / UNESCO World Heritage / 15th century
Its curving stone walls are beautiful. Perry is said to have surveyed them and been astonished at their accuracy.
Nakijin-jo(Nakijin)castle / Northern Okinawa Island / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / UNESCO World Heritage / 13th century
The seat of the king of Hokuzan. A wall 1.5 kilometres long runs along the ridge.
Shikinaen(Naha)garden / park / Southern Okinawa Island / Special Place of Scenic Beauty / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / UNESCO World Heritage / 1799
A villa of the Ryukyu royal house. It was the garden in which Chinese envoys were received.
Shurijo Seiden(Naha)castle / Southern Okinawa Island / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / UNESCO World Heritage
It burned in 2019 and is being rebuilt. The stone walls of the castle site remain World Heritage.
Taketomijima(Taketomi)historic townscape / Yaeyama Islands / Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings / Preservation District for Traditional Buildings
Red tiles and shisa, and streets of white sand. The island's code, utsugumi, has kept the townscape.
Tamaudun(Naha)burial mound / archaeological site / Southern Okinawa Island / National Treasure / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / UNESCO World Heritage / 1501
The mausoleum of the kings of Ryukyu, and a National Treasure. A stone structure imitating a plank roof, it carries a form of tomb peculiar to Okinawa.
Zakimi-jo(Yomitan)castle / Central Okinawa Island / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / UNESCO World Heritage / 1420
The oldest arched gateway in Okinawa survives here.
Shuri-jo(Naha)castle / Southern Okinawa Island / UNESCO World Heritage (Cultural) / UNESCO World Heritage / 14th century
The royal castle of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It burned in 2019 and is being rebuilt; the stone walls of the site remain.
Churaumi Aquarium(Motobu)museum / theatre / Northern Okinawa Island / 2002
Whale sharks and reef manta rays in the great Kuroshio tank.
Kokusai Street(Naha)historic townscape / Southern Okinawa Island
One point six kilometres. Its recovery from the burnt ground of the war was called the miracle mile.
Iriomote(Taketomi)nature / scenery / Yaeyama Islands / UNESCO World Heritage (Natural) / UNESCO World Heritage
Ninety percent of the island is primeval forest. The Iriomote cat is a Special Natural Monument.
Kabira Bay(Ishigaki)nature / scenery / Yaeyama Islands / Place of Scenic Beauty
The colour of the water changes with the hour. Black pearls are farmed here, so swimming is not allowed.
Himeyuri(Itoman)museum / theatre / Southern Okinawa Island / 1946
It carries the memory of the Battle of Okinawa. The Cornerstone of Peace bears 240,000 names.
Kouri Island(Nakijin)nature / scenery / Northern Okinawa Island / 2005
A bridge 1,960 metres long crosses the sea. The island carries a Ryukyuan version of the Adam and Eve legend.
Manzamo(Onna)nature / scenery / Central Okinawa Island
A Ryukyu limestone cliff shaped like an elephant's trunk. Its name says it could seat ten thousand.
Eisa(Okinawa and nearby)festival / event / Central Okinawa Island
A dance that sends off the ancestors at the old Bon. Dancers beat drums as they move through the village.
Bingata & Yachimun(Naha)industrial heritage / Southern Okinawa Island
Stencil dyeing that carries the colours of the south, and the pottery of Tsuboya. Kilns line Yachimun Street.
Traditional Crafts
Sixteen crafts hold national designation, second only to Kyoto's seventeen.
Ryukyu bingata, Kijoka bashofu, Miyako jofu, Kumejima pongee, Yomitanzan hanaori, Chibana hanaori, Tsuboya ware, Ryukyu lacquerware, and the sanshin.
More than ten of the sixteen are textiles. Where Kyoto leaned towards display and Osaka towards use, Okinawa leans overwhelmingly towards what is worn. The royal government required each island to render cloth in tribute, and that system survives as a production district on each island. The stencils for bingata were almost all lost in the Battle of Okinawa. After the war it was rebuilt again from the few stencils that survived and from memory.
More: VILLAGE Journal vol.9 — The stencils, once again（リンク先は現在公開されていません）
More from This Prefecture
See all Okinawa articles ← All 47 prefectures
Sources: Okinawa Prefecture, City of Naha, City of Nanjo, Yomitan Village, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village editorial team