Utaki

{{Short description|Sacred place in Ryukyuan religion}} {{For|the album by Misako Odani of the same name|Utaki (album)}} 200px|right|thumb|Sefa-utaki {{transliteration|ryu|'''Utaki'''}} ({{langx|ryu|御嶽}}) is an Okinawan term for a sacred place, often a grove, cave, or mountain. They are central to the Ryukyuan religion and the former noro priestess system.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ec4dAAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Utaki%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA238 |pages=238–241|title=Islands of Discontent: Okinawan Responses to Japanese and American Power|year=2003|isbn=9781461637929|publisher= Rowman & Littlefield |editor=Laura Hein, Mark Selden|access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref> Although the term {{transliteration|ryu|utaki}} is used throughout the Ryukyu Islands, the terms {{transliteration|mvi|suku}} and {{transliteration|rys|on}} are heard in the Miyako and Yaeyama regions respectively. {{transliteration|ryu|Utaki}} are usually located on the outskirts of villages and are places for the veneration of gods and ancestors. Most {{transliteration|ryu|gusuku}} have places of worship, and it is theorized that the origins of both {{transliteration|ryu|gusuku}} and {{transliteration|ryu|utaki}} are closely related.

These places usually face east, due to the mythical origin of the gods and spirits in the East, or southeast, south, or southwest in a few places.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OugrYbdRqoQC&dq=%22Utaki%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT150|title= Shamans in Asia|year=2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|editor=Clark Chilson, Peter Knecht |access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>

There are different theories about these places' origins. One reasonable explanation is that they were created by the indigenous people from the Jōmon period.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} Another, racialist theory was they were created ''from scratch'' by the Yamato people, which lead in the 1930s and 1940s to re-consecration and building new Shinto temples on the islands.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NjsfAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Utaki%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA105 |pages=105–110|title=Heritage Politics: Shuri Castle and Okinawa's Incorporation Into Modern Japan, 1879–2000|author=Tze May Loo |year=2014|isbn=9780739182499|publisher=Lexington Books|access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>

==Notable utaki== * Binnu Utaki (弁之御嶽), Naha * Sefa-utaki (斎場御嶽), Nanjō * Sunuhyan-utaki (園比屋武御嶽), Naha

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Ryukyu Islands Category:Religious buildings and structures in Okinawa Prefecture Category:Sacred groves