Sunjaga Well

What Sunjaga Well Is

Sunjaga Well (潮平ガー, Sunjagā) is a large stone-built village spring well in the centre of Shiohira, Itoman City, Okinawa Prefecture, completed in its present form in the late Taishō period and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on 12 December 1997. Its registration number, 47-0001, makes it the first Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Okinawa Prefecture.

The name is Okinawan. Sunja is the local pronunciation of Shiohira, the district's name in standard Japanese, and gā means a well or spring; Itoman City uses the English name Sunjaga Well. In Okinawa a well of this kind, shared by a whole hamlet, is called a muragā, a village well.

Itoman City's tourism guide gives 1920 as the year the well was built, while the city's cultural property page says the well is said to have been rebuilt into its current shape towards the end of the Taishō period. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Taishō period. The site covers 314 m² on a gentle slope and is owned by the Shiohira Neighborhood Association.

Why Sunjaga Well Was Registered

The Agency registered Sunjaga Well as a structure that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. In its words, the walls of large cut stone follow a way of building that is common in Okinawa, and the well has long been used for everyday water and is widely loved. Itoman City adds that the structure and the handling of the material show the quality of stonework of the time, and that the well helps us understand how water supply facilities worked then.

The well was more than plumbing. Itoman City explains that until piped water arrived it supplied the village with drinking water, and was also used for washing vegetables and watering livestock. It is the village nbugā, the spring from which water was drawn for a newborn's first bath. On the second day of the first lunar month, people still come here to report births, lay out offerings and pray for good harvests and the health of the community.

What to Look for at Sunjaga Well

The Agency describes Sunjaga Well as four parts working together: a roofed water basin, a stone-paved work area in front of it, a flight of stone steps down to the work area and retaining walls of stone on the slopes.

Look closely at the basin walls. They are built of big blocks of limestone cut square and laid in level courses, the Nunozumi method, so the joints run in long horizontal lines. Over the basin is a concrete roof, which the city's guide mentions, and the stone floor in front was where people did their washing.

Two incense burners are part of the registered structure, one at the water basin and one behind it. They mark Sunjaga Well as a place of prayer as well as a water source, and they are worth noticing before you take a photograph.

Visiting Sunjaga Well

Sunjaga Well is an open-air community site with no gate, opening hours or admission fee. It is still a place of worship for Shiohira, so do not step into the water basin, do not touch the incense burners and keep your voice down. No photography rules are published; avoid taking pictures of people during ceremonies, especially on the second day of the first lunar month.

The well is at 136 Shiohira in the northern part of Itoman City, a short distance south of Naha. There is no railway in Itoman. Shiohira bus stop is about 400 metres from Sunjaga Well in a straight line; check routes with the local bus operators before setting out. No visitor parking is advertised.