Located on the southeastern tip of mainland Okinawa, Kudaka is a slender island stretching north to south and roughly 8 kilometers in circumference. It is a sacred island in Ryukyu (Okinawa) mythology that Amamikiyo, the creator of Ryukyu, descended from heaven and first made this island.

As it is called the “island of gods,” Utaki (sacred place), ancient sacred places for the veneration of gods and ancestors from Nirai Kanai, are scattered throughout this island.
In Kudaka, when a child is born the ritual prayer is recited, which means “do not aim too high.” In the harsh environment of an isolated island, people believe that one’s destiny is pre-determined at birth: girls shall become Kaminchu (women of gods/priestesses), while boys are brought up to be Uminchu (men of ocean/fishermen).

The Kudaka islanders are proud to be born in this “island of gods,” crossing the sea as men of ocean, performing sacred rites as women of gods, finding faith and strength in their deities, experiencing holy spirits’ presence in everyday life, praying, blessing, and dying on the island.

Their gods should be present everywhere and might have kept their eyes on the islanders’ lives and deaths. Their lifestyle and devotions seem to be changing, the photographer,
Sawako Obara, finds its core still remains the same, somewhere in the deep places in this island.

This series of photographs is shot by Sawako Obara, visit to Kudaka from 2008 to 2017.