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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.
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.
According to the ''[[Chuzan seikan|Chûzan seikan]]'' written by [[Haneji Choshu|Haneji Chôshû]] in [[1650]], Amamikyo and Shinerikyo created, or begat, a further three male deities and two female deities. The eldest of the male deities was known as Kuninushi (lit. "master of the land") or Tensonshi (lit. "descended from heaven"), the second was said to be the progenitor of the ''[[anji]]'' nobility, and the third the progenitor of the common people. The elder of the two female deities was said to be the progenitor of the line of ''kimigimi'' priestesses, including the line of ''[[Kikoe-ogimi|Kikoe-ôgimi]]'', chief priestesses of the kingdom. The younger of the two female deities was said to be the progenitor of the regional ''[[noro]]'' priestesses.<ref>Yamazato Eikichi, "Shinwa to densetsu ni miru Okinawa no rekishi," ''Tabi'' 旅 46 (1972/6), 108.</ref>
==Locations==
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>
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>
