Ungami of Shioya Bay

The Ungami of Shioya Bay is a traditional sea-god festival held throughout the Shioya Bay area of Ōgimi Village, Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, and is designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan. Held after the Bon period in the seventh lunar month, it welcomes deities visiting from "Nirai Kanai"—the ideal land beyond the sea—and prays for abundance, bountiful catches, and the prosperity of the community, conveying vividly the faith culture of Okinawa.

"Ungami" means "sea god," and at this festival ancient Shinto rites are conducted solemnly, centered on the female ritual officiants called "noro." The ceremony in which the women of the settlement sing sacred songs to welcome the sea deity conveys to this day Okinawa's distinctive form of faith led by female priests. Gratitude and prayers for good harvests and bountiful catches are expressed through song, dance, and ritual gesture.

One of the festival's major highlights is the "hari" (boat-rowing race) held in Shioya Bay. Rowers divided by settlement compete in speed rowing traditional boats, and the bay is enveloped in fervor. The unity of villagers who have lived together with the sea is expressed through the race. Rooted in the uniquely Okinawan worldview of Nirai Kanai faith, the Ungami of Shioya Bay is an irreplaceable folk culture conveying to this day the reverence for nature and the prayers of the people of Ryūkyū.