extra= Amamichuu
, or 天久臣乙女王御神, is the
creation goddess of the
Ryukyu Islands in the Ryukyuan religion.
Name
Amamikyu's name comes from the reading of the Chinese characters 阿摩美久 or 阿摩彌姑, which were most likely written
ad hoc for the Okinawan pronunciation. It is likely related to the name of the
Amami Islands. There are also kanji spellings of 天御子 and 天美子.
Readings can vary widely from Amamikyu, Amamikyo, Amamikiyo, Amamiko, Amamiku, Amamigu, Amamichuu, and Amanchuu. "Amamikyu" was used by George H. Kerr in his
Ryukyu: Kingdom and Province Before 1945 in 1953.
[Kerr, George. Okinawa:History of an Island People. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Publishing, 1958. 36.]
Creation myth
The beginning of
Chūzan Seikan details the creation of the Ryukyu Islands. The Heavenly Emperor (天帝), who lived in the Heavenly
Gusuku (天城), looked down on the world and saw that there were no islands, so he ordered Amamikyu (阿摩美久) to create the Ryukyu Islands. She asked for materials to build the islands, so the Heavenly Emperor sent Shinerikyu to bring her grasses, trees, and stones. She descended to Earth on
Kudaka Island, and then made landfall on
Okinawa Island on the spot of
Sefa-utaki, and later built Tamagusuku Castle and
Chinen Castle and a number of communities. She asked the Heavenly Emperor for materials to make people, but the other gods would not go down to Earth. Without sexual intercourse, she became pregnant by Shinerikyu (志仁禮久,
shinirichuu) and populated the islands. Some generations later, a "heavenly grandchild" named Tentei was born, who split Ryukyuan society into five classes with his three sons and two daughters: the first son was Tenson, who became the first King of Ryukyu; the second son became the first feudal lord (Aji); the third son became the first farmer; the first daughter became the first royal noro priestess; and the second daughter became the first village noro priestess.
[Glacken, Clarence. The Great Loochoo. University of California Press, 1955. Pp 29-30.] Her final home was located at
Minton Castle in Tamagusuku, Okinawa.
Historical legacy
Amamikyu's tomb is located on
Hamahiga Island in Uruma, Okinawa.
Sefa-utaki is the holiest
utaki site in the Ryukyuan religion. During the
Ryukyu Kingdom era, the king and kikoe-ōgimi made an annual
pilgrimage to the site from
Shuri Castle to worship Amamikyu, facing
Kudaka Island.
See also
