Naminoue Shrine

Naminoue Shrine (locally called "Nanmin-san") stands on a cliff above Naha Port, with Naminoue Beach below, close to the city center.

The site is said to have begun as a sacred place where people prayed to Niraikanai, the paradise beyond the sea. Its founding date is unknown, but it was the highest-ranking of the eight Ryukyu shrines, visited officially by kings and officials. It enshrines Izanami and the Kumano deities Hayatama-no-o and Kotosaka-no-o. The neighboring temple Gokoku-ji served as its former administrative temple.

The shrine burned down in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, leaving only a torii gate. The main hall was rebuilt in 1953 with donations from Okinawan emigrants in Hawaii, and the present main and worship halls date from 1993. The annual festival is held on May 17 (the date has been fixed since 1893, after a 1890 enshrinement ceremony held that day), with the surrounding Nanmin Festival offering sumo, beach tug-of-war and Ryukyuan dance (per the 2026 official program). The shrine once had a bronze bell cast in Goryeo in 956, designated a National Treasure in 1907 but nearly destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa; its surviving dragon-shaped handle is kept at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum. From Kencho-mae Station on the Yui Rail, it is about 1 km to the west.