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*''Okinawan/Yaeyama'': 御嶽 ''(utaki / on)''
*''Okinawan/Yaeyama'': 御嶽 ''(utaki / on)''
''Utaki'' are sacred spaces in the indigenous animistic [[Ryukyuan religion]], the sites of religious rituals performed by priestesses known as ''[[noro]]'' or ''tsukasa'', as well as more private, individual worship. Often consisting of groves of trees surrounded by stone walls, ''utaki'' were frequently maintained within the inner sections of Okinawan ''[[gusuku]]'' fortresses.
''Utaki'' are sacred spaces in the indigenous animistic [[Ryukyuan religion]], the sites of religious rituals performed by priestesses known as ''[[noro]]'' or ''tsukasa'', as well as more private, individual worship. Most were traditionally seen as sites spiritually supporting the local community around them; rituals performed by priestesses there similarly were aimed primarily at ensuring the well-being of the local community.
Often consisting of groves of trees sometimes surrounded with stone walls but with minimal manmade elements otherwise, ''utaki'' were frequently maintained within the inner sections of Okinawan ''[[gusuku]]'' fortresses. They are one of several types of sites known as ''uganju'' 拝所 ("places of worship"), along with sacred springs (''kaa''), household altars, and small roadside altars.<ref name=aike2>Aike Rots, "Strangers in the Sacred Grove: The Changing Meanings of Okinawan Utaki," ''Religions'' 10:298 (2019), 2.</ref> Unlike [[Shinto shrines]], which are typically controlled by a priestly family and which are organized nationally by the Association of Shinto Shrines (''[[Jinja Honcho|Jinja Honchô]]''), ''utaki'' are generally not owned or controlled by any religious authority; ''noro'', ''yuta'', indigenous activists, tour guides, governments, and powerspot tourists each make of the site what they will, (re)defining and using the site according to their own beliefs.<ref>Rots, 12.</ref>
''Utaki'' are known as ''on'' in the [[Yaeyama language]].
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>
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]] as well as Sêfa utaki in the southern portion of the island 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.
Generally, a large stone or tree marks the center of an ''utaki''; small [[incense]] burners and platforms for placing offerings are often arranged there. A particular type of sacred tree, called ''kuba'' or ''shuro'', is also common within ''utaki''. In many ''utaki'', there is a particularly sacred area called ''ibi'', where men are forbidden from entering; ''noro'' priestesses and other women known as ''kaminchu'' (lit. "people of the gods") perform rituals at a spot nearby called ''kami asagi'' or ''tun'', to call down the spirits.<ref>Plaques at Ryukyumura.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15618268576/sizes/k/]. These ''kami asagi'' or ''tun'' often also serve as communal sites for spiritual gatherings, unlike the ''utaki'' which generally are not. Rots, 5.</ref> While some ''utaki'' today have worship halls or some other form of building-like structure, and/or a [[torii]] gate, these are almost exclusively 20th century additions;<ref name=aike2/> in most cases, these were constructed as part of a prewar initiative known as ''utaki saihen'' (reorganization of ''utaki''), which aimed to bring ''utaki'' into the nationwide ideological and political system of [[State Shinto]].<ref>Rots, 9.</ref>
Though there is no comprehensive information, it is estimated that there are several hundred ''utaki'' on [[Okinawa Island]] today, and perhaps as many as several thousand ''uganju'' sites of other types.<ref>Rots, 4.</ref> While many have been destroyed to make way for homes, roads, and development or construction otherwise, scholars and practitioners/worshippers alike stress that the vast majority of ''utaki'' are neither the mere "physical remnants of a pre-modern past," nor "relics of a religious system that is about to vanish."<ref>Rots, 3.</ref> To the contrary, these are living sites, still actively respected and used by members of their local communities. In recent years, many ''utaki'' have also begun to attract tourists (mainly from mainland Japan) interested in their supposed character as "powerspots," removed in the minds of these tourists from Okinawan religious, historical, and cultural context and significance; some have been exploited by local governments, tourism organizations, and corporations for the purposes of expanding tourism revenues.
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==References==
==References==
*[[Robin Thompson|Thompson, Robin]]. "The Music of Ryukyu." ''Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music''. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, 2008. pp305-306.
*[[Robin Thompson|Thompson, Robin]]. "The Music of Ryukyu." ''Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music''. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, 2008. pp305-306.
*Gallery labels, Okinawa Prefectural Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9514300158/sizes/h/]
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[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Shrines]]
[[Category:Shrines]]
