Changes

[[File:Noro.jpg|right|thumb|400px|A museum display recreating a traditional ''[[noro]]'' ritual. Okinawa Prefectural Museum]]

[[File:Noro.jpg|right|thumb|400px|A museum display recreating a traditional ''[[noro]]'' ritual. Okinawa Prefectural Museum]]

[[File:Miruku.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The deity [[Miruku]] coming ashore from ''[[nirai kanai]]'' during a festival, bringing ''[[yugafu]]'' (good fortune), as represented in a museum display at the [[National Museum of Japanese History]]. Also seen here are a ''[[shisa]]'' (lion) and ''[[hari]]'' (dragon boat), welcoming the deity.]]

[[File:Miruku.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The deity [[Miruku]] coming ashore from ''[[nirai kanai]]'' during a festival, bringing ''[[yugafu]]'' (good fortune), as represented in a museum display at the [[National Museum of Japanese History]]. Also seen here are a ''[[shisa]]'' (lion) and ''[[hari]]'' (dragon boat), welcoming the deity.]]

[[Buddhism]], [[Shinto]], [[Confucianism]], and Chinese folk religion (e.g. [[Tenpi]] worship) were all introduced into the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] in the premodern period, and had considerable impacts upon local religious beliefs and practices, particularly among the [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|elites]], and particularly in the central region of [[Okinawa Island]]. However, Ryûkyû is also home to its own native/indigenous religion, a set of animist beliefs and practices which many suggest likely grew out of similar or shared origins with Japanese Shinto, though others argue strongly that such ideas have colonialist and Orientalist origins and work to deny or erase Ryukyuan distinctiveness.<ref>Aike Rots, "Strangers in the Sacred Grove: The Changing Meanings of Okinawan Utaki," ''Religions'' 10:298 (2019), 8.</ref>

[[Buddhism]], [[Shinto]], [[Confucianism]], and Chinese folk religion (e.g. [[Tenpi]] worship) were all introduced into the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] in the premodern period, and had considerable impacts upon local religious beliefs and practices, particularly among the [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|elites]], and particularly in the central region of [[Okinawa Island]]. However, Ryûkyû is also home to its own native/indigenous religion, a set of animist beliefs and practices which many suggest likely grew out of similar or shared origins with Japanese Shinto, though others argue strongly that such ideas have colonialist and Orientalist origins and work to deny or erase Ryukyuan distinctiveness.<ref>Aike Rots, "Strangers in the Sacred Grove: The Changing Meanings of Okinawan Utaki," ''Religions'' 10:298 (2019), 8.</ref>

==Sacred Spaces==

==Sacred Spaces==

Like mainland Japanese Shinto, the native Ryukyuan religion is centered in large part around naturally sacred spaces. In Ryûkyû, these are called ''uganju'', and include sacred springs, small roadside altars, home altars, and sacred sites known as ''[[utaki]]''; ''utaki'' most often take the form of sacred groves of trees, rock outcroppings, or clearings amongst the trees. While some are marked off by stone walls and gates, others simply feature small stone markers at the center of the site. [[Sefa utaki]] in southern Okinawa is considered the most sacred on the island, though [[Sonohyan utaki]] on the site of [[Shuri castle]], being associated with the king, is also a highly sacred site. Certain islands and peaks are also sacred, [[Kudaka Island]] being perhaps the most important. Finally, as in many Pacific Islander religions, there is a belief in a land of the gods somewhere across the sea, from which sacredness emanates. In Ryûkyû, this land is called ''[[nirai kanai]]''.<ref>"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-42520-storytopic-121.html Nirai kanai]," ''Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia'' 沖縄コンパクト事典, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.; Videos and exhibit displays, "Minzoku" (Folk Customs) exhibit, National Museum of Japanese History, Sakura, Chiba. Viewed July 2013. </ref> [[Miruku]], a Ryukyuan form of the Buddha Maitreya (J: ''[[Miroku]]''), is said to come from ''nirai kanai'' bringing ''[[yugafu|yugafû]]'' (good fortune); this is reenacted in numerous island festivals, with a villager often dressing as Miruku and paddling to shore from the sea.

Like mainland Japanese Shinto, the native Ryukyuan religion is centered in large part around naturally sacred spaces. In Ryûkyû, these are called ''uganju'', and include sacred springs, small roadside altars, home altars, and sacred sites known as ''[[utaki]]''; ''utaki'' most often take the form of sacred groves of trees, rock outcroppings, or clearings amongst the trees. While some are marked off by stone walls and gates, others simply feature small stone markers at the center of the site. [[Sefa utaki]] in southern Okinawa is considered the most sacred on the island, though [[Sonohyan utaki]] on the site of [[Shuri castle]], being associated with the king, is also a highly sacred site. Certain islands and peaks are also sacred, [[Kudaka Island]] being perhaps the most important. Finally, as in many Pacific Islander religions, there is a belief in a land of the gods somewhere across the sea, from which sacredness emanates. In Ryûkyû, this land is called ''[[nirai kanai]]''.<ref>"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-42520-storytopic-121.html Nirai kanai]," ''Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia'' 沖縄コンパクト事典, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.; Videos and exhibit displays, "Minzoku" (Folk Customs) exhibit, National Museum of Japanese History, Sakura, Chiba. Viewed July 2013. </ref> [[Miruku]], a Ryukyuan form of the Buddha Maitreya (J: ''[[Miroku]]''), is said to come from ''nirai kanai'' bringing ''[[yugafu|yugafû]]'' (good fortune); this is reenacted in numerous island festivals, with a villager often dressing as Miruku and paddling to shore from the sea.

==Religious Hierarchy==

==Religious Hierarchy==

Women were traditionally believed to be more spiritually powerful than men, and men more spiritually vulnerable, an idea or belief system known as ''onarigami''. As a result, the most prominent and significant religious figures in the kingdom were priestesses. Though organized somewhat more loosely in earlier times, in the late 15th century, King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]] formalized the priestesses into a kingdom-wide hierarchy, linking them more closely to the royal court; though still quite powerful, the religious establishment thus represented somewhat less of a political threat.

Women were traditionally believed to be more spiritually powerful than men, and men more spiritually vulnerable, an idea or belief system known as ''onarigami'' or ''unarigami''. As a result, the most prominent and significant religious figures in the kingdom were priestesses. In local communities, too, it was typically women who performed rituals and ceremonies, including for the spiritual protection of the community. Though practices differed across the archipelago, local priestesses (''[[noro]]'') often wore white robes, necklaces of large stones (sometimes including ''[[magatama]]'' beads), and sacred headdresses or lei-like necklaces made from vines.<ref>Gallery labels, "Unarigami," Amami Nature and Culture Center, Amami Ôshima.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/49491199252/sizes/l/]</ref>

This new hierarchy was headed by the ''[[kikoe-ogimi|kikoe-ôgimi]]'', typically the king's sister, who was responsible for providing spiritual protection for the king and kingdom, and overseeing some of the most important royal rituals. She also oversaw the entire hierarchy of priestesses, and along with the king was in charge of appointing women to become priestesses within the hierarchy.<ref>George Kerr, ''Okinawa: the History of an Island People'', Revised ed., Tuttle Publishing (2000), 111.</ref> Directly below the ''kikoe-ôgimi'' were the ''[[Oamushirare]]'', three high priestesses who each oversaw one-third of the ''utaki'', and one-third of the ''[[noro]]'' (priestesses) of the kingdom. Beneath them, then, were the ''noro'', each of whom oversaw the ''utaki'' and spiritual affairs of a village or ''[[magiri]]'' (district); each village or ''magiri'' typically had several ''noro''. Shamanesses called ''[[yuta]]'' were significantly less powerful, but were also not strictly overseen within the hierarchy.<ref>Plaque on-site at former site of ''Kikoe-ôgimi udun'', just outside Shuri Middle School, at 2-55 Tera-chô, Shuri, Naha.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9444382739]; Plaques at reproduction of a noro's house, Okinawa Furusato Mura, Ocean Expo Park, Nakijin.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15456827940/sizes/h/].</ref>

Though organized somewhat more loosely in earlier times, in the late 15th century, King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]] formalized the priestesses into a kingdom-wide hierarchy, linking them more closely to the royal court; though still quite powerful, the religious establishment thus represented somewhat less of a political threat. This new hierarchy was headed by the ''[[kikoe-ogimi|kikoe-ôgimi]]'', typically the king's sister, who was responsible for providing spiritual protection for the king and kingdom, and overseeing some of the most important royal rituals. She also oversaw the entire hierarchy of priestesses, and along with the king was in charge of appointing women to become priestesses within the hierarchy.<ref>George Kerr, ''Okinawa: the History of an Island People'', Revised ed., Tuttle Publishing (2000), 111.</ref> Directly below the ''kikoe-ôgimi'' were the ''[[Oamushirare]]'', three high priestesses who each oversaw one-third of the ''utaki'', and one-third of the ''noro'' (priestesses) of the kingdom. Beneath them, then, were the ''noro'', each of whom oversaw the ''utaki'' and spiritual affairs of a village or ''[[magiri]]'' (district); each village or ''magiri'' typically had several ''noro''. Shamanesses called ''[[yuta]]'' were significantly less powerful, but were also not strictly overseen within the hierarchy.<ref>Plaque on-site at former site of ''Kikoe-ôgimi udun'', just outside Shuri Middle School, at 2-55 Tera-chô, Shuri, Naha.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9444382739]; Plaques at reproduction of a noro's house, Okinawa Furusato Mura, Ocean Expo Park, Nakijin.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15456827940/sizes/h/].</ref>

==Deities==

==Deities==