Naminoue Shrine (Photo: ChiefHira / CC BY-SA 3.0)
Naminoue Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture. It is located on a high cliff overlooking Naminoue Beach and the ocean. Any boat that enters and exits the trading base of Naha Port looks to the shrine on top of the high cliff and prays for a safe journey, the shrine has always been revered and people pray for a rich fish catch and a rich harvest as well.
Each new year the king himself visited the shrine on behalf of his people to pray for the peace and prosperity of the nation. The Naminoue Shrine is admired as the “main shrine of the kingdom”. It was classified as a Kanpei-shousha (Shrine of National Significance) and Okinawa Sochinju (Shrine that protects all of Okinawa) in the Meiji era, but it was destroyed during the war.
After the war, the shrine office (Shamusho) and the main shrine (Honden) were rebuilt in 1953. The church (Haiden) followed a little later and was rebuilt in 1961. In 2006 the Naminoque Shrine was declared a Historic Heritage Site of the City of Naha.
Address: 1-25-11 Wakasa, Naha, Okinawa 900-0031
Hours: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Phone Number: 098-868-3697
Access
From Naha Airport, it's a 10 minute monorail ride to Asahibashi Station, followed by a 15 minute walk.
A direct taxi ride from the airport takes about 10 minutes (~1200 yen).
Monorail passengers could alight at Kencho-mae station, and catch a bus (2, 5, 15, 45) from Paletter-kumoji-mae to Nishinjo stop, leaving a 3 minute walk to the shrine.
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