OOkinawa

Can anyone tell me that the symbols on these shrines mean?

  • September 24, 2025

I was exploring around Naha and Oroku the other day can I came across these okinawan shrines. Many of them had the hidari Gomon which I’m familiar with since it is tied to the okinawan/japanese god of war Hachiman however I also saw these ones and I’m not familiar with who they might be related to if it’s tied to any one person in specific. I saw the 2 Tomoe multiple times so I imagine it’s tied to someone specific like the hidari gomon but in one of the photo there are two other symbols which I’ve never seen anywhere else so I’d imagine they are family Kamon.

by Etterererererer

4 comments

  1. I only know that in Buddhist burial traditions the deceased receives a special name that gets engraved on the stone

  3. I’m Japanese and originally from Okinawa.

    I did some research. (Sorry if the translation isn’t accurate.)

    The first photo says “Jinten Yokuchihime no Kami.”

    She is the eldest daughter of Amasuiryuu Okami, the dragon god of Ryukyu Shinto, and the dragon god of the zodiac sign of the monkey.

    The rock is called an Utaki, and is a shrine dedicated to gods and ancestors.

    [https://hym.jp/okinawa-diving/dragon-tour/post-1829](https://hym.jp/okinawa-diving/dragon-tour/post-1829)

    The deity on the right in the second photo is “Tenjukumeryuuguuouonkami,” who is said to have descended to Earth to mediate between the three brother gods born to Tenryu-Omikami and Amekukamiotome-Omikami (Tenfuryuu-Omikami, Ameka-Ryuu-Omikami, and Amesuiryuu-Omikami) and their three heavenly brides (Omoteomi Yukiotome, Nakatomi Yukiotome, and Sokoomi Yukiotome).

    [https://hathor-blog.com/ryukyu-history1/](https://hathor-blog.com/ryukyu-history1/)

    Since I’ve written this much and it’s getting tedious to research (I’m not really interested either), I’ll look into the remaining two when I feel like it.

    Let me know if you’d like me to look into them.

  4. All three are common in Okinawa’s **Shintō and Ryukyuan folk religion**, seen on shrines.
    Left: 二つ巴（ふたつどもえ） —Tomoe (two-swirl): water/whirlpool, cycles, protection (fire-warding at shrines). Very common in Okinawa.
    Center: 蛇の目（じゃのめ） — “Snake’s eye” concentric rings: apotropaic mark, warding off evil/misfortune. Right: 三日月に二つ星 — Crescent with two stars: celestial motif, divine protection and ritual authority.

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