Paper short abstract:

The paper discusses the change of perception of sacred places (utaki) in Okinawa from the post-war time until the present. Whereas in the past, utaki were often disregarded, along with religious practices of ritual specialists, nowadays they are seen as a precious cultural heritage of Okinawa.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses the change of perception of sacred places in Okinawa. Spiritual healers (mostly women, called kaminchu or yuta) are main practitioners and ritual specialists for religious matters especially related to ancestor cult. They perform consultations at home, and praying rituals at sacred places. These places include sites related to the Battle of Okinawa, where kaminchu perform pacifying rituals for deceased, and places of historical importance related to the ancestor cult and worship of Ryukyuan heroes. Sacred places are often located in natural groves called utaki. In some cases entrance to the utaki is restricted to religious practitioners.

The perception of utaki has changed as well as the perception of spiritual healers. While some utaki in the pre-war time were altered to Shinto sites, with the purpose of enhancing Japanese identity of Okinawans, during the post-war time many sacred places were demolished, being seen as unwanted remnants of "backward culture". The practice of kaminchu was harshly criticized in the past, but it was difficult to prevent their agency since they were not institutionalized. Their place of agency however, the sacred places, could be controlled since they represented a manifestation of the spiritual practice. The destruction of utaki was seen as a necessary step towards modernization, preventing ritual specialists practicing "superstition". Many utaki had to be removed because of the construction of military facilities, but ironically, some utaki that remained inside bases preserved their original form and escaped the fate of destruction as it happened with sacred places outside the bases. With the rise of the so-called "Okinawa boom" in the 1990s, many sacred places were reevaluated as important cultural heritage with a touristic value.