A few days ago I went to the Futenma Shrine for the first time. Why I never made it before... a mystery, since it is relatively close to my house. Left you see the view of the shrine from the highway (its right at the intersection of the 81 and 330 in Ginowan, if you want to go).
The most interesting thing about the Futenma shrine is the caves beneath it. If you ask nicely, a priestess in training (all dressed in white with those socks specially made with a big toe space and flipflops... you know) will let you back into the caves. To the left you see the entrance to the caves, and a priest in training sweeping the rocks.
To the left here, you see the prayer plaques of Okinawans that come to the shrine, hanging outside.
Then, if you turn around and go down the stairs, you will see this: The hanging paper cutouts are prayers, left by the priests and priestesses. They are wrapped around rocks in random places. Random only to the ignorant such as I, no doubt. To the right, the cave continues back. It isnt too big, but makes for a nice little walk away from civilization, right under the highway and bustle of Ginowan. It`s nice to hear the silence of caves (I assume you all understand what I mean by that, if you've been in a cave) in the middle of the city. Below is the view of the shrine from down inside the cave, right where it opens. Like a different world isn't it? Very peaceful.
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2 comments:
hey! did anyone explain to you what the ropes with hanging paper strips are all about? i'm writing a paper about the myth that those things commemorate right now! here's a picture of the real place, called the cave of heaven on mt kurai:
http://www.unc.edu/courses/2003spring/
anth/196/001/images/essay1f.jpg
the ropes are called shimenawa and the dangling papers are gohei. i'll tell you about the myth in some other medium. not enough space here.
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