Every time I take a hike up a stream or a walk through the forest, I come across small shrines dedicated to Okinawa's earthly deity's. To understand what I am talking about, take a close look at the rocks in the center of this picture. The small rectangular rock amoung the leafs, is a rock box that is used to hold water. The rocks stacked above it is the shrine itself.While its hard to tell from the picture above, this particular shrine was built under a rock outcrop in the middle of a stream.
Typically when one of these shrines are present, nearby there will be a small sacried cave that is protected by a small stone wall, which can be seen in the picture above. These small caves are used either as a burial place or are believed by local people to be home to spirts.
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