Futenma Shrine (Futenma Gongen) is a Shinto shrine located in Futenma on Highway 330 between Gates 6 and 7 of Camp Foster. Rich in history, Futenma gives visitors a glimpse at religion in the times of the Ryukyu Kingdom as well as in modern Japan.

Futenma Shrine was officially established more than 500 years ago when King Sho Kinpuku issued an edict creating the Eight Shrines of Ryukyu (which also included Naminoue-gu, Okiū, Shikina-gu, Sueyoshi-gu, Asato Hachiman-gu, Ameku-gu, and Kin-gu). But the grounds on which the shrine stands today have been a place of worship for Okinawans for far longer than half a millennium.

Beneath Futenma Shrine lies an expansive cave (known as gama), carved from the limestone core of Okinawa over the course of several millennia. Stalactites (sekijyun) and stalagmites (shounyûseki) sprout from the ceiling and floor, the handiwork of thousands of years of erosion. Guests enter the cave only after requesting admission from one of the kannushi (priests) or miko (high-school age female attendants) working at the shrine. Once escorted to the vaulted doors that guard the subterranean chamber, guests descend a mossy staircase and enter the inner sanctum. Light shines through eroded holes in the ceiling, illuminating the cave and bathing it in an ethereal glow. The entire cave is believed to be sacred, but several formations are thought to be especially fortuitous, especially for young couples seeking to bear children. Past the altars and swaths of braided rope (called shimenawa) festooned with zig-zag strips of linen (called shide) is an area worthy of exploration. A small bridge crosses a stream that ebbs and flows with rainfall, and beyond that are yards of unlit passages that eventually lead to a metal grate. This grate is opened annually on June 30.

Legend holds that a beautiful young weaver from the Shuri area became distraught at all of the attention she was receiving for her looks. Her angst continued to build and peaked when one of her siblings allowed a stranger watch her unaware. Upon learning of this unwanted attention, the girl fled north. Her family supposedly followed one of her threads all the way to the cave at Futenma, but she refused to come out at all. She stayed in the cave for many years, and the people came to worship her as a goddess. Supposedly, she is one of three kami worshipped there today.

On the surface, Futenma Shrine is comprised of several buildings, most of which were built during the shrine’s 2003 reconstruction. Most visitors stop at the main altar, where priests perform a variety of ceremonies and worshippers toss money into an offering box. Nearby is the shrine office, where visitors can purchase a variety of omamori (amulets) as well as omikuji (fortunes—available in both English and Japanese). Behind this building is a smaller structure accessible only to priests, who will not reveal its contents. It is said to be the home of Kumano Gongen, the kami to whom the shrine was dedicated at its inception.

Other buildings dot the shrine grounds as well, used for various functions such as weddings and meetings. A tsuri-game (great hanging bell) is also on the grounds and is struck at midnight on New Year’s Eve as part of the joya no kane New Year tradition. Guests will also notice hundreds of omikuji tied on strings around the shrine, as well as ema, wooden plaques that guests purchase and inscribe with wishes.

Futenma Shrine is busiest during the New Year holiday, when thousands flock there for hatsumode, or the first shrine visit of the year. The shrine takes on a festival atmosphere of sorts, with vendors lining the pathway to the torii to sell toys and food, and flags flapping in the wind within the shrine grounds. The shrine also holds its own festival each fall, on September 15 of the lunar calendar.