Abstract
This article discusses the changing significance of sacred groves (utaki) in contemporary Okinawa. Until recently, utaki were the domain of female ritual practitioners (kaminchu or noro), and men were not allowed to set foot in them. In many places, such taboos have faded away, if not disappeared altogether, and utaki have acquired new meanings in the context of mass tourism, heritage conservation, and environmental degradation. Although there are several studies of the ritual system of the Ryukyu Kingdom (1429–1879), little research has been conducted on the postwar and contemporary significance of utaki. This article begins by describing the current situation, using examples from the southeastern part of the island. It then identifies three main issues for the study of sacred groves in Okinawa today: the claim, made by leading Japanese scholars, that these are sites of primordial “nature worship”, supposedly similar to ancient Shinto; the recent popularization of utaki as sites of spiritual power, so-called “powerspots”, among tourists; and, finally, the emerging realization of their potential significance for biodiversity conservation.
Highlights
There is a variety of places of worship that are not legally registered as “religious”, but that are visited by Okinawans for ritual purposes
It should be pointed out that there are some significant regional differences between different parts of Okinawa, and some of my observations may not apply to all parts of the island between Ryukyuan and Japanese cultures; second, recent changes in ritual practice, corresponding to the reinvention of sacred groves as spiritual “powerspots”, visited by mainland Japanese tourists; and third, the question of the ecological significance of utaki, which corresponds to the emerging globalappreciation of sacred groves as valuable natural sites
Several of the observations made in this article do pertain to sites in the north and center of Okinawa as well: the reinvention of Okinawan sacred sites as “powerspots”, for instance, and the question of the potential ecological significance of these sites apply to the entire island
Summary
Okinawan society is characterized by great religious diversity and activity, perhaps more than any other Japanese prefecture. We shall see, in all three cases, utaki have been by non-Okinawan groves are not As merely the physical remnants of a pre-modern past; appropriated nor are they the relics of a religious “strangers”, who to have laid claim to them in On various ways: mainland scholars, who have as system that is about vanish (cf Ivy. the contrary, these Japanese are living sites, ecologically incorporated them into the nation-state, by claiming that these are remnants of primordial well as, in many cases, ritually and socially (Figures 1 and 2). The uses of space in Okinawa powerspot tourists, who appreciate utaki for their alleged spiritual energy, rather than seeing them are highly contested: the island is small and densely populated, and a significant part of it has been as sites of Okinawan ritual worship; and, somewhat differently, “invaders” such as mongooses and appropriated by the US military. Worshippers makingritual ritualofferings offerings at at Bengadake, grove on on a hill nearnear
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