Changes

*''Japanese'': 奄美姑・阿麻弥姑 ''(Amamiko, Amamiku, Amamikyo, Amamikyu, Amanchu, Amamichu)''

*''Japanese'': 奄美姑・阿麻弥姑 ''(Amamiko, Amamikyo; [[Amami language]]: Amamiku, Amamikyu; [[Okinawan language]]: Amanchu, Amamichu)''

Amamikyo is the primary primordial creation goddess in [[Ryukyuan religion|Ryukyuan origin myths]]. Along with her male counterpart [[Shinerikyo]], Amamikyo is credited with creating the [[Ryukyu Islands]] themselves, as well as numerous ''[[gusuku]]'' and ''[[utaki]]'' (sacred sites),<ref>Sites which Amamikyo is credited with creating include [[Tamagusuku gusuku]], [[Goeku gusuku]], and [[Iso gusuku]], among many others. Kitahara Shûichi. ''A Journey to the Ryukyu Gusuku'' 琉球城紀行。 Naha: Miura Creative, 2003. pp66-67, 89.; Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 125.</ref> and with introducing rice cultivation and other technologies.   

Amamikyo is the primary primordial creation goddess in [[Ryukyuan religion|Ryukyuan origin myths]]. Along with her male counterpart [[Shinerikyo]], Amamikyo is credited with creating the [[Ryukyu Islands]] themselves, as well as numerous ''[[gusuku]]'' and ''[[utaki]]'' (sacred sites),<ref>Sites which Amamikyo is credited with creating include [[Tamagusuku gusuku]], [[Goeku gusuku]], and [[Iso gusuku]], among many others. Only four ''gusuku'' are explicitly associated with Amamikyo in the ''[[Omoro soshi|Omoro sôshi]]'', however. Kitahara Shûichi. ''A Journey to the Ryukyu Gusuku'' 琉球城紀行。 Naha: Miura Creative, 2003. pp66-67, 89.; Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 125-126.</ref> and with introducing rice cultivation and other technologies.   

While some myths assert that she first came down to earth at [[Kudaka Island]] and then crossed over to [[Okinawa Island]] at [[Sefa utaki]] - hence these two sites being the most sacred sites on/near Okinawa - others relate the story of the creation of the world, then the islands, then the ''utaki'' and ''gusuku'', in a narrative progression moving from north to south. Scholars such as [[Gregory Smits]] have tied this legendary southward progression to actual historical migration of peoples southward from the [[Amami Islands|more northerly islands]] into Okinawa, bringing with them cultural customs as well as technologies such as iron working and rice agriculture.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 125.</ref> Some have gone so far as to suggest that the name of the deity itself may derive from, or literally mean, "a person" or "people" from "Amami".<ref>The goddess is often called Amamichu in the [[Okinawan language]]; in that same language, a person from Amami would be called ''Amaminchu''. "[https://ryukyushimpo.jp/okinawa-dic/prentry-40119.html Amamikyo]," ''Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia'', Ryukyu Shimpo, 2003.</ref>

While some myths assert that she first came down to earth at [[Kudaka Island]] and then crossed over to [[Okinawa Island]] at [[Sefa utaki]] - hence these two sites being the most sacred sites on/near Okinawa - others relate the story of the creation of the world, then the islands, then the ''utaki'' and ''gusuku'', in a narrative progression moving from north to south. Legends in northern Okinawa assert that [[Asumui utaki]]<!--安須森御嶽-->, a sacred grove at the northern tip of Okinawa, [[Hedo no misaki]], was the first such sacred grove she created.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 152.</ref> Scholars such as [[Gregory Smits]] have tied this legendary southward progression to actual historical migration of peoples southward from the [[Amami Islands|more northerly islands]] into Okinawa, bringing with them cultural customs as well as technologies such as iron working and rice agriculture.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 125.</ref> Some have gone so far as to suggest that the name of the deity itself may derive from, or literally mean, "a person" or "people" from "Amami".<ref>The goddess is often called Amamichu in the [[Okinawan language]]; in that same language, a person from Amami would be called ''Amaminchu''. "[https://ryukyushimpo.jp/okinawa-dic/prentry-40119.html Amamikyo]," ''Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia'', Ryukyu Shimpo, 2003.</ref>

 

A site on [[Hamahiga Island]] (a tiny island just off the coast of the Katsuren peninsula of the Okinawa Island "mainland") is traditionally identified as the grave of Amamikyo.<ref>Plaques on-site.; Aike Rots, "Strangers in the Sacred Grove: The Changing Meanings of Okinawan Utaki," ''Religions'' 10:298 (2019), 10.</ref>

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