Love legend of Okinawa: A place for making connections

Long ago, two children, a boy and a girl, descended from the sky from the sky on the island of Kujuri. They were completely naked and lived happily eating the rice cakes that fell from the sky every day. At first, the two of them had no doubts about it, but one day a worry arose that they would run out of rice cakes, so they started to save them little by little. Soon, the rice cakes stopped falling. The two of them sang and prayed to the sky until they were unable to make out the sound of their voices, but the rice cakes never fell again. Out of desperation, the two descend to the beach and become skilled in catching fish and shellfish every day, learning the hardships of life and labor. One day, they encounter a jellyfish in the sea. Aware of the difference between male and female in seeing jellyfish mating in the sea, the two of them became ashamed of being naked, so they began to hide their private parts with bamboo leaves. It is said that after that, two of their descendants grew in number and became the ancestors of the people of Okinawa.

Long ago, there was a young samurai on a journey from Sukorai to Yanbaru. As I approached Hoshida, I got thirsty and asked the people along the way if there was a well somewhere. They told me that there was a stream under the nearby forest. I hurried to the stream and found a beautiful village girl drinking water. The attendant couldn’t help but ask, “My dear daughter, could you please get some water from that hand and give it to me to drink?” He asked the stranger, who didn’t know who he was, to get the water with his hand... The girl reddened her face and refused. The young samurai still couldn’t give up and kept asking over and over again. Eventually, the daughter, shyly, handed the water from Higagawa to the samurai. Even after returning to Sukorai, the samurai could not forget about the daughter of the water from Yotsuda, and it is said that he finally brought the daughter to Sukorai and married her.

Once upon a time, a young man was traveling and was looking for a place to spend the night. He noticed two red trees nearby. Curious, he approached them and saw a gray-haired old man sitting between the trees, intently tying a rope. When he asked what he was doing, the old man replied, "People are born with a predetermined arrangement for a couple, and to ensure that those two people will meet each other properly, they tie their left ankles together with a red rope." The young man asked if his left ankle was also tied with a red rope. The old man pointed to a woman with a shabby, impoverished appearance who was approaching from behind and said, "That's my daughter." Upon hearing this, the young man's attendant was furious and slashed her back with a sword, sending her flying into the river. Four years later, the young man diligently studied in Shuri and became the civil servant he had long dreamed of, achieving success in his career. One day, while walking down the mountain path to return to Yamahara’s hometown, I injured my leg and was unable to walk. Fortunately, I was rescued by a wealthy couple who passed by there. We ended up staying at their house. We fell in love with the beautiful daughter who lived there and asked to marry her, but she hesitated because she said, “There is an ugly big scar on her back.” In fact, that daughter was the woman who was beheaded by a young court eunuch four years earlier. After being stabbed with a sword, she was in a critical condition and was being carried by the wealthy couple to the river. She was rescued by the wealthy couple and became their adopted daughter. When the young man remembered the old man's words, he said, "This is the girl I was tied to with the red rope. Isn't this the wound I cut? From now on, I intend to cherish this person for the rest of my life, repaying my debt." He vowed in his heart and hugged the girl, shedding tears. Even the daughter who doesn't know this is crying with tears of joy, saying, "How could you marry someone like me with such ugly scars on my back?" After that, the two people prayed to the mysterious two trees, cared for each other, and lived happily together out of mutual affection.

In the Heavenly City there was a god named Amami. The Heavenly Lord called Amami and ordered him to descend to the lower world and build an island. Although there was land on the surface, it was not yet an island because the waves of the East and West Seas were constantly pushing against it. Amami-ku climbed to the sky and received from the Sky Lord the soil, stones, grass, and trees to build an island on the ground. Then, as time passes and no more people are born, Amami-ku returns to the heavens and asks the Sky Emperor for the seeds of human beings. The god Tencai bestowed the children, Amami-tutu and Silmi-tutu, to Amami-ku. The goddess was carried by a blowing wind and saw three men and two women. The eldest son became the king of Ryukyu as the Tenno clan, the second son became the beginning of the Anshi (local leaders), and the third son became the beginning of the peasants. The eldest daughter became the beginning of the Great Goddess (the goddess of the country), and the second daughter became the beginning of the Goddess of Fortune (the goddess of the local region).