Changes

''Utaki'' are known as ''on'' in the [[Yaeyama language]].

''Utaki'' are known as ''on'' in the [[Yaeyama language]].

The most sacred ''utaki'' on the [[Okinawa Island|island of Okinawa]] is an ancient site known as [[Sefa-utaki]]. Other famous sites include [[Sonohyan utaki]] and [[Suimui utaki]] on the grounds of [[Shuri castle]].

The most sacred ''utaki'' on the [[Okinawa Island|island of Okinawa]] is an ancient site known as [[Sefa utaki]]. Other famous sites include [[Sonohyan utaki]] and [[Suimui utaki]] on the grounds of [[Shuri castle]].

Most ''utaki'' are dedicated to the worship of deities or spirits of protection for the village, or to the deities coming from ''[[nirai kanai]]'', the spiritual source or land of the gods far across the sea. ''Utaki'' in the royal capital of [[Shuri]] are also dedicated to the protection of the king, or of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|kingdom]].<ref>"Shuri ma~i" 首里ま～い. Pamphlet. Naha City Board of Education Cultural Properties Division 那覇市教育委員会文化財課, 1989.</ref> Unlike [[Shinto shrines]], however, ''utaki'' are typically not visited by locals in an everyday manner, to offer personal prayers or to make wishes; rather, ''utaki'' historically and today are primarily sites employed by ''noro'' to perform set rituals on particular occasions, and by ''yuta'' who perform particular rituals there in the course of their activities as spirit mediums and so forth.

Most ''utaki'' are dedicated to the worship of deities or spirits of protection for the village, or to the deities coming from ''[[nirai kanai]]'', the spiritual source or land of the gods far across the sea. ''Utaki'' in the royal capital of [[Shuri]] are also dedicated to the protection of the king, or of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|kingdom]].<ref>"Shuri ma~i" 首里ま～い. Pamphlet. Naha City Board of Education Cultural Properties Division 那覇市教育委員会文化財課, 1989.</ref> Unlike [[Shinto shrines]], however, ''utaki'' are typically not visited by locals in an everyday manner, to offer personal prayers or to make wishes; rather, ''utaki'' historically and today are primarily sites employed by ''noro'' to perform set rituals on particular occasions, and by ''yuta'' who perform particular rituals there in the course of their activities as spirit mediums and so forth.