Living life in the Land of the Rising Sun: Ryukyu Mura

Kijimuna directing us to the village

In May I made a list of things I wanted to do during the summer months. One of the things on my list was to visit 10 points of interest in Okinawa. I wanted to give myself a goal so I would get out and visit some of the nearby places rather than doing the same ol' things at home. In mid-August I woke up to a sunny day so I asked my friend Diana if she'd like to go to Ryukyu Mura with me. There are signs on the main highway road that have statues of Kijimuna on to draw your attention to the park. According to Okinawan mythology, Kijimuna are young, child-like spirits with long red hair. that live in the Banyan trees. They are said to be very mischievous and like to play pranks and trick humans. I'm not quite sure why they've chosen to have these little creatures on their advertisements for the park. For many months I thought it was just a kid's park so I'd ignored the signs. After reading a few posts about the park on facebook I realized it didn't match what I thought it would be. I decided to take a second look and add it to my list of places to see. I'm glad I did. I guess the Kijimuna played a trick on me after all.

Ryukyu Mura (Mura= Village) is like taking a step back in time. It's a recreation of what a typical Okinawan village would look like during the Ryukyu Kingdom days. (before they became a part of Japan). There are various types of old style houses with tiled or thatched roofs and open fire cooking hearths. They are decorated in the manner in which they would have been during the Ryukyu days. Each house was moved to this village from various parts of the island to present an overall view of traditional life in Okinawa. The village has a shrine, old fishing boats called Sabani and an old sugar cane mill with a water buffalo to pull the wheel that squeezes juice from the sugar cane which is then boiled to make brown sugar.

One of two water buffaloes in the village

The Sugar Cane Mill

For a small fee you can participate in learning various Okinawan crafts like pottery, painting shisa dogs, jewelry making, fabric dying, corral lamps and even how to play a Sushin (three stringed instrument). You can have photos taken in kimonos and experience a tea ceremony. Throughout the day they have various programs at each of the houses and the theater. We went to watch the Eisa Taiko Drummers show and then watched a show about Habu snakes. I say watched because we couldn't understand what the man was saying. We gathered that the first snake he showed us looks like a habu and tries to strike at you when threatened but isn't poisonous. He was swinging that one over the audience which made me glad I was on the sidelines. The second snake was a true habu and after talking about it, he then grabbed it by its head. At the end of his show he allowed anyone who wanted to take pictures wear it around their necks. We watched all the young kids doing this and decided to be brave and try it ourselves. I can now say I've met a habu snake up close and personal. Ahhhh!! You can read more about habu snakes here and here.

The employees walked around in traditional Okinawa attire and were quite happy to stop for a picture with a peace sign. Even the trash lady was dressed in a cute outfit and hat. As you exit the village there are many restaurants serving various noodle and curry dishes as well as souvenir shops. I bought a bar of habu soap because it said it was good for healing the skin from signs of aging. (I was mostly intrigued as to whether it would help the skin problems I've had since wintertime--see next blog post) I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the village and think I'd like to go back and see more of the shows and maybe even try a few of the crafts. It's not too far from my home so I'm sure I'll visit it again before we leave the island.