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Keramashoto NP, Okinawa
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In Aharen belief, the harvest god descended from heaven to Kuba Island, then came to the village. Kubandaki faces this sacred island about 10 km away; its nearby utaki became a place to pray toward it.
In July, people performed tabijūkō (旅焼香) at Kubandaki for those who died away from the island—on voyages to China or Japan, or while fishing—and whose bodies never came home.
Kubayama behind the observatory is thick with kuba palms (Livistona chinensis). Tokashiki’s village history says leaves were harvested for Chinese ships’ sails and stored in a hut called hinangwā.
A nearby place called Tōshindumai (トウシンドゥマイ, 唐船泊) was an anchorage for Chinese ships. Tokashiki’s village account says people were traditionally forbidden to enter it in ordinary times.
Tokashiki Village suggests Kubandaki’s name may refer both to its position in front of Kubayama and to its role as an utaki for worshipping Kuba Island—a place-name joining landscape with sacred geography.
