Shrine in Ozato

Yesterday when driving to a few places that we thoughts would be fun and exciting we stumbled upon an area that looked interesting. After a detour which took us round the block we found a quick place to park and I went up the inconspicuous stairs to investigate.

When I got to the top I saw that the area was a small local shrine. Much like other shrines in Okinawa this one was concrete and grey in color. Inside the shrine were five small offering areas where people often put incense to burn. Unfortunately there is not much to say about this shrine. There were no markers nor where there any indicators on the maps in the are that it was even here. Another thing that I found interesting is that there were 5 offering areas but no stones or ceramics in the shrine itself. Generally inside these shrines you can find something other than the offering areas themselves. Either way it was a nice little area that I thought you might like to see.

[caption id="attachment_1041" align="aligncenter" width="652"] Entrance[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_1040" align="aligncenter" width="652"] Inside the shrine[/caption]

Special Place In Empty Lot

I am often asked how I find some of the places that I share in my videos and blog. My answer to those who ask always consists of two basic parts. The first is to look through what you see and the second is to lose the watch. This small shrine is the perfect example of what might happen if you do both those things.

Last weekend while doing some exploring on the Motobu Peninsula we found ourselves, as one might, driving from planned location to planned location. As we moved from one location to the next we found an interesting little area which we could barely see at first glance but decided to pull over in an empty lot. Once pulling over we noticed that what we saw was clearly a tori gate, lanterns and a shrine.

Unlike the shrine that I had mentioned yesterday this one was not unlike others I have seen throughout Okinawa. It was void of color and was settled in a quiet area surrounded by threes. The one unique thing about this particular shrine, however, was that it was located in a large empty lot. This was strange because generally speaking these do not have parking areas.

Like many other places in Okinawa there is a bit of mystery which surrounds places like this. There are no signs and at this particular area there were no markers either. Of course this area is used in spiritual practices and I have been told that yuta, most commonly women who are known for their ability to contact spirits, come to places like this. Unfortunately that is the extent of my knowledge of this particular location.



 

Shrine in Genka

 

One day while driving through some of Okinawa's villages we found ourselves at a shrine in an area of Okinawa called Genka. There is honestly not much to saw about this shrine as I am not entirely sure of it's specific purpose although I thought that it was very unique at least compared to what we usually see here in Okinawa. The colors not being simply grey as well as the shape of the roof. Another thing that I also thought was interesting about the shrine was the large amount of parking around the shrine. It was something I became curious about because of the fact that it was in a very small area where space like this seems huge.

Unfortunately as I said I do not know too much about the shrine itself. I will continue to see if I can research and if there is anything that I find out I will be sure to include it in a future post.