Religious Tradition in Japan - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 28

Fig. 2.11 Sacred road (Ujoguchi)

the post of Kikoe-no-Okimi, the supreme Goddess of Ryukyu, was assumed. The
site still attracts visitors who wish to worship there as a sacred site of Agai-umaai. 2
The Seifa-utaki was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in December 2000
as the “Gusuku (Castle) and related Relics of the Kingdom of Ryukyu.”
The seifa-utaki on the Chinen Peninsula in the southeast of Okinawa Main Island
consists of approximately four hectares of tableland above the Pacifi c Ocean. The
Seifa-utaki is surrounded by a subtropical forest that includes deigo ( Erythrina var-
iegate ) and akagi (Japanese bishopwood), as well as enormous, oddly shaped rocks.
Six places of worship are connected by paved stone approaches over 450 m.
Figure 2.11 shows the Ujoguchi , the entrance to Seifa-utaki . During the era of the
Kingdom of Ryukyu, only qualifi ed females were allowed to go beyond that
entrance. A walk up a gradual incline on the stone mat approach from Ujoguchi
leads to a place of worship at the bottom of a rock in the west named Ufugui
(Fig. 2.12 ). This is the sacred place where the accession ceremony of Kikoe-no-
Okimi was held, with an altar whose front is surrounded by stones and named Una .
The hollow rock cave on the opposite side is also considered sacred, and is named
Yuinchi (Fig. 2.13 ). The place of worship known as Ufugui is located behind, and
visitors worship while facing a hallowed rock at the front that serves as an altar.

2 At Agai-umai, paternal relatives from every part of Okinawa gather to worship from August
through to September of the old calendar. In addition to Seifa-utaki, Tomuinutaki at Chinen Castle
and Okawa are central places of worship.