Yugafu

Miruku coming ashore during a festival, bringing yugafu, 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.

• Other Names: amayuu, mirukuyuu
• Okinawan: 世果報 (yugafuu)

Yugafuu is an Okinawan term meaning, roughly, "good fortune." The word appears in many ryûka (traditional poems), and classical songs, and is mainly associated with Miruku (Maitreya, J: Miroku), who brings good fortune with him, as he arrives in the village from nirai kanai (a land of the gods, beyond the sea) on the occasions of certain festivals.

References

• Videos and exhibit displays, "Minzoku" (Folk Customs) exhibit, National Museum of Japanese History, Sakura, Chiba. Viewed July 2013.
• "Yugafuu," Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary (Shuri-Naha hôgen onsei database).