In Okinawa there are places called utaki. They are sacred sites without buildings, where the forest, rocks or springs themselves are places of prayer.
What is an utaki?
Utaki is a word for the sacred sites found across the Nansei Islands, including Okinawa. Gods were believed to dwell in natural rocks, groves plus springs, and prayers have been offered there since ancient times.
Sefa-utaki in Nanjo City was regarded as the highest-ranking sacred site of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Sefa means of great spiritual power, of the highest rank, and together the name expresses the most sacred site of all. It is counted among the seven utaki of the Ryukyu creation, said to have been made by Amamikiyo, the creator goddess of Ryukyu.
In 2000 it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as part of the Gusuku Sites plus Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu.
Nirai Kanai ― the world beyond the sea
Okinawan faith holds the idea of Nirai Kanai. It is the world of the gods, said to lie far beyond the sea, or at the bottom of the sea. Abundance plus life have been thought to come from there.
From Sefa-utaki you can see Kudaka Island to the east. It lies in the direction of the rising sun, and Nirai Kanai is said to lie beyond it; prayers have been offered from here as well.
The place itself gives prayer its form
An utaki has no Buddhist statues, no shrine buildings. Even so, you can tell it is a sacred site because people have turned their prayers toward it for a very long time. The place itself has become a vessel for prayer.
I love visiting shrines plus sacred places like these. When I visit, I try never to forget that they are still places where local people pray.
A painting, too, hung on the wall, becomes somewhere to direct your wishes. It cannot hold as much time as an utaki, but in the sense of placing one vessel for prayer within daily life, I think they share something.
Mermaid nao's order art is also the work of making a piece you can put your hands together before.
[References]
Sefa-utaki World Cultural Heritage, official site (Japanese): What is Sefa-utaki
Wikipedia (Japanese): Utaki (Okinawa)
NIHONMONO (Japanese): Sefa-utaki, the World Heritage Site famed as the highest sacred site of the Ryukyu Kingdom
Orion Story (Japanese): How to enjoy the World Cultural Heritage Site Sefa-utaki
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