This Is Not a Powerspot: Heritage Tourism, Sacred Space, and Conflicts of Authority at Sēfa Utaki

The sacred grove Sēfa Utaki was one of the most important worship sites of the Ryukyu Kingdom (1429–1879). In 2000 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and in recent years it has seen a dramatic increase in the number of visitors. The emergence of large-scale heritage tourism at Sēfa Utaki has caused tensions between various actors, including Okinawan pilgrims, spirit mediums, mainland Japanese tourists, and local authorities. The site is subject to competing claims, not least with regard to its spiritual significance and the question of proper ritual behavior. Contrary to most other UNESCO-listed sacred sites in Japan, Sēfa Utaki is not a religious institution, legally speaking, and therefore does not have its own clerical authority. This has led to different actors attempting to assert authority in various ways, as this article demonstrates. To some of them, the capacity to “feel” the spiritual power of the place becomes a marker of identity, distinguishing supposedly “authentic” Okinawan worship practices from such mainland inventions as “powerspot tourism.” Sēfa Utaki is promoted widely as a “sacred site” (seichi), but there appears to be little consensus on what this “sacredness” entails. Some Okinawan tour guides and worshippers assert that the grove is a place of worship (ogamu basho) where rituals are conducted for the well-being of Okinawan society as a whole; according to them, overseas visitors and powerspot tourists fail to understand this crucial aspect of Okinawan tradition.