Sefa-utaki (斎場御嶽,Okinawan:シェーファウタキSeefa-utaki^[1]), meaning "purified place ofUtaki,"^[2] is a historical sacred space, overlookingKudaka Island, that served as one of the key locations of worship in thenative religion of theRyukyuan people for millennia.^[3] Later as a part of assimilation of Okinawa by Japan, it was shifted to serve as aShintoshrine. It is part of theUNESCOWorld Heritage SiteGusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu inNanjō,Okinawa.

Sefa Utaki is on the Chinen Peninsula, and has been recognized as a sacred place since the earliest period of Ryukyuan history. According toChūzan Seikan, this was the spot whereAmamikyu, goddess of creation, made landfall on Okinawa. The shrine area itself comprises a number of caves and overhanging ledges opening to the east and south among towering rock formations of a high promontory over the sea. All buildings have been destroyed, but the outer and inner precincts can still be traced.^[4]

• Kerr, George H. (1953).Ryukyu Kingdom and Province before 1945. Washington, D.C.: Pacific Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council.OCLC 5455582
• Yamakage, Motohisa, Paul de Leeuw and Aidan Rankin. (2006).The essence of Shinto. Tokyo: Kodansha International.ISBN 978-4-7700-3044-3

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26°10′24″N127°49′36″E / 26.17333°N 127.82667°E /26.17333; 127.82667

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