Okinawa: A People and Their Gods - Robinson

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those who, like my parents, have challenged me to be dissatisfied with my present accomplishments, and have stimulated me to new ones.

      Much thanks must go to my wife, Nancy, and my four children, Jimmie, Joey, Judy, and Johnnie, who were patient when time was stolen from then. Their love and devotion are irreplaceable.

      Publications by Dr. William Lebra, Okinawan Religion; and Dr. George H. Kerr, Okinawa: The History of an Island People; and Dr. Clarence J. Glacken, The Great Loochoo, were especially helpful. Professor Sokyo Ono's Shinto: The Kami Way, was both stimulating and informative. Thanks are also due the University of Hawaii Press for permission to quote from Okinawa Religion by William P. Lebra and from Ryukyuan Culture and Society: A Survey.

      Special appreciation must go to Dr. William Stockton, Anthropologist, and Mr. Sam Kitamura, Public Relations Department, USCAR, for encouragement and constructive criticism. Any errors or false conclusions, however, must rest upon me.

      Typing and editing was done by Mr. William Stem, Jr., who labored long and hard over penmanship that has always served as a bewilderment both to my teachers and to my friends.

      James C. Robinson

      INTRODUCTION

      This is a book about people. They live on a small island, located in the Western Pacific Ocean, between the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea. The island is only 70 miles long with an average width of 7 miles. It is usually hot and humid, except for a couple of months out of the year. Typhoons are frequent uninvited intruders. The coastline is roughly indented.

      Approximately 45 percent of the people are farmers whose chief crops are sugar-cane, sweet potatoes, rice, soybeans, and pineapples. Mountains to the central and northern sections of the island discourage the settlement of large populations. Therefore, most Okinawans live in the southern third part of the island. The enchanting blue and green water which surrounds the "shima," or island, still keeps its allure for fishermen who provide a major item on the everyday menu.

      A former Japanese possession, Okinawa fell to American forces following the bloodiest campaign of the Pacific Theater in World War II. One finds the influence of Japan alive today, especially in the language, the celebration of traditional holidays, and certain religious practices. Other cultures have also made their impact on Okinawa, and not the least of these is the presence of American military personnel and their dependents.

      Culturally then, Okinawa is a mixture of several influences all of them acting and interacting with one another. But one must not think of Okinawa and her people as neutral recipients, having no history, traditions, or customs of their own. This is far from the truth for Okinawa is rich in her cultural heritage and unique in her cultural expression. You are invited to discover these things for yourself. Some of them you will glean from this book. The rest you will find as you travel around the island, keeping alert to various places, objects, and practices. Do not be afraid of what may seem strange or mysterious. Fear is a serious obstacle to communication between people.

      Man is by nature a religious being. The expression of that nature may vary from culture to culture, but the reality of that nature is constant from age to age. Fear, uncertainty, and loneliness stalk the human spirit; courage, faith and a sense of belonging are a balm to the trembling breast.

      We began by saying that this is a book about people. If the reader will strive for appreciation and understanding he will find himself the happy discoverer of insights which point not so much to factors which divide the Family of Man, but to human experiences that unite it.

      Chapter 1

      SOME

       BASIC CHARACTERISTICS

       OF OKINAWA RELIGION

      KAMI

      From time immemorial the people of Okinawa seem to have believed in kami; it is a basic expression of their ancient folk religion. Kami is an animistic concept that all things living and dead possess a spirit; they may dwell, therefore, in all things animate or inanimate. As superhuman forces they possess the power to either help or hinder human endeaver. There are many kami, each independent from the other; it is necessary, therefore, to be in bad grace with only one kami to experience unfortunate consequences. Kami are deities, but the line between man and kami is as vague as the concept of kami itself. Nevertheless, since kami are seen as the source of divine intervention in human life, they function as gods for the believer.

      Kami act in various ways: they supervise, influence, alter, or inform. They may also be organized in categories and arranged according to rank. According to one writer1 the heaven or natural phenomena kami is the highest. This is the kami who is said to have ordered two sibling-kami to create Kudaka Shima and populate the island. This kami is not to be confused with the Judeo/Christian God of Creation. Next in rank are the place or location kami. These are the kami of the well, pigpen, hearth, or paddy. Third in rank are the occupational or status kami. It is believed that every person has a kami that determines his spiritual status. Kami-persons (kaminchu) are thought to possess the highest spiritual status because of the kami that has possessed them. Status kami (saa) can be neither acquired nor rejected. One's status, it is believed, may be determined by a yuta or a fortuneteller; but since most religious offices are inherited, this tends to be determined by birth.

      Ranking fourth, but by no means unimportant, are the ancestral kami (futuki). The last category is that of the kami person (kaminchu) who, despite human responsibilities (by some as a wife and mother), assumes a semi-devine status when she dons the white kimono and functions as a priestess. Both priestesses and yuta are commonly considered to be kami persons, although there is some question concerning the latter.

      Since kami may be present in all things, their number is almost without end. Among the most influential kami in every day life are the hearth/fire kami (fii nu kang/kami); ancestral kami (futuki); life sustaining kami (mabui); remote ancestor kami (chiji), whom one serves and who offer guidance; ghosts (majimung); and a male spirit who lives in the Indian banyan reet (kijimunaa). In addition to these there is thought to be a nonpoisonous snake called "akamataa," who is said to possess the power to transform himself into a handsome young man with the power to seduce women. Those who fall prey to his charms are said to give birth to snakes. At least one shrine has been built in celebration of his defeat, the Kannondo Buddhist temple, at Yabu Village; this temple was originally built about 400 years ago.

      AUTHORITY FOR KAMI FAITH

      In traditional Okinawan thought there are two sources of knowledge: empirical, which is available to everyone; and supernatural revelation, which is limited to kami-persons. Kami-persons are instructed through hearing or dreaming, while being bodily possessed (completely or partially), or during a waking vision at which time the kaminchu is in full possession of her senses. In the latter experience the individual is a spectator or participant in something which he both hears and sees. Since this instruction is revelatory in nature, formal training is rejected as being not necessary; actually, training for the religious office is acquired through association with other priestess and yuta are considered to be divinely conferred. This is balanced in the thinking of the ordinary person by consultation with several kaminchu and the acceptance of the most reasonable opinion.

      FEMALE ORIENTATION

      Women command the chief positions in religious leadership; their relationship to ancient practice and belief can be traced to the mythological creation story in which they received an early identification with religion. Men have never been associated with religious authority; when they have participated in religious rites it has always been as secondary officials who have served the priestess in a secular function, such as leading her horse. Prior to the origin of state religion, each male of standing was paired with a female, usually a sister. Her function was to manipulate the spirit which gave him status and power; one can detect traces of the sister-kami concept and the sibling-deity myth in this arrangement.

      With the creation of a state religion by Sho Hashi in a.d. 1429, state-appointed priestesses (noro) were given the responsibility for the supervision over and practice of kami worship. Present leadership is still dominated by females and reflects the traditional place

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