Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
a mile (1.5 kilometers) to a sign for the Aka Waterfall (
阿嘉のヒゲ水
; Aka no higé-mizu). If
it's been raining, it might be worth the rather long and steep climb down to look up to the
falls. At their best they are tall, narrow and wispy. If it has been dry, they don't exist and you
probably should skip it. The fall's name translates as “Long Red Beard,” a reference to the un-
derlying color of the rock face over which they flow.
Continuing southeast, either not quite 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) from the Aka Waterfall
parking lot or 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) from the Uegusuku Ruins/Route 242 intersection,
you'll come to the little town of Maja (
真謝
; Maja). Almost immediately after entering Maja,
on your right, you'll come across Tengogu (
天后宮
), a modest Shinto shrine. It's no big deal
but it's a peaceful spot. Its Kanji characters read Tianhou, meaning “Queen of Heaven Palace”
or “Queen's Sky Palace.” A “palace” may be a bit of a stretch for this little place but, nonethe-
less, it's a prized shrine for the village.
Tengogu, a small prized Shinto shrine in the town of Maja.
A little further down the same road and you'll have passed out of Maja and into Une (
宇
根
; Uné). It's hard to know exactly where one village ends and the other begins, but it's 1,970
feet (600 meters) from the Tengogu Shrine to the sign for Uné-no-dai-Sotetsu, (
宇根の大ソテ
ツ
), a 250-year-old stand of 20-foot (6-meter)-high cycads (sago palms). They are just of the
road, to the right, growing in a manicured private yard, centered by a traditional Okinawan
residence and displaying over a dozen beautifully crafted bonsai trees. It is open to the public
and there is no admission charge although there is a dish for the offering of coins to help pay
for the estate's upkeep.
Before you can say “I've seen a lot of sago palms in Okinawa, enough already,” yes, it's true
that there are many sagos in the Ryukyus. After all, the plant is indigenous to these islands.
However, this display is different. It's a group of probably the largest sagos you will likely ever
come across. Sagos, by their nature, are so slow-growing that it's unusual to see them this
