Tuyumya Tombs (Nishinakasone, Hirara City, Okinawa)

What the Tuyumya Tombs Are

The Tuyumya Tombs (豊見親墓, Tuyumya-baka) are a group of three stone tombs in Nishinakasone, Hirara, Miyakojima City, Okinawa Prefecture, built between the mid-18th and early 19th centuries and designated together as an Important Cultural Property of Japan on 20 April 1993. The official designation name is Tuyumya Tombs (Nishinakasone, Hirara City, Okinawa); the place name in brackets refers to Hirara City, which merged into Miyakojima City in 2005.

The three are the Tomb of Nakasone Tuyumya, the Tomb of Chirimara Tuyumya and the Atonma Tomb. Nakasone Tuyumya governed the Miyako Islands as chieftain from the late 15th century into the early 16th, and the lineage that traces its descent from him is called the Chudo-uji. Chirimara Tuyumya was his third son, and his descendants formed the Miyagane-uji. The Atonma Tomb holds the second wives of the Chudo-uji line.

The burial ground faces Hirara Bay on the northwest side of Miyako Island, and the three Tuyumya Tombs stand within a few dozen metres of each other. They are owned by the Nishinakasone Property District, a special local body that holds communal property for the Nishinakasone community.

Why the Tuyumya Tombs Were Designated

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the tombs of Nakasone Tuyumya and Chirimara Tuyumya as huge stone tombs of the mid-18th century and ranks them among the finest stone structures on Miyako Island. The Atonma Tomb, from the early 19th century, is singled out for the way its builders worked the living bedrock into the masonry.

The Miyakojima City Board of Education points to two features shared by all three Tuyumya Tombs. One is the tsunpun, a free-standing screen wall set squarely in front of the tomb entrance; on Okinawa Island the same device is called a hinpun. The other is a row of short stone posts along the top of the burial chamber. Each post has a notch cut into its upper end, and during rites a timber could be laid across the notches to carry beams and a temporary roof. The city notes that tombs built this way are not found elsewhere in Okinawa Prefecture.

For the Tomb of Chirimara Tuyumya, the city records a tradition that it was built around 1750 by Kanpu, a descendant who served as head of Hirara. The Agency's own database gives a wider spread: 1751 to 1829 for the two larger tombs and 1830 to 1867 for the Atonma Tomb, which does not quite match the "mid-18th" and "early 19th century" of its commentary. The dates are best read as approximate.

What to Look for at the Tuyumya Tombs

Start at the Tomb of Nakasone Tuyumya. According to the Agency, it consists of the burial chamber, an urigaa (a well reached by stepping down to the water) and an enclosing stone wall. It is the most massive of the three, built up in course after course of stone. Look at the row of short posts above the chamber: the notches at their tips are visible from the ground, and once you know that a roof was hung from them on ritual days, the row reads as working structure rather than ornament.

The Tomb of Chirimara Tuyumya comprises the chamber, a tsunpun and the surrounding wall. Standing in front of it shows the purpose of the tsunpun clearly, since the screen hides the chamber mouth from anyone approaching head-on.

The Atonma Tomb is smaller, made up of the chamber and its stone wall, and sits in a quieter, overgrown spot to the south of the Nakasone tomb. Here the builders cut into the bedrock and fitted dressed stone against it; tracing the line where natural rock gives way to shaped blocks is the best way to see what the designation praises.

Visiting the Tuyumya Tombs

The Tuyumya Tombs stand in the open and can be viewed from outside; Miyakojima City publishes no opening times or admission fee. These are still family tombs, so do not climb on the chambers or walls and leave any offerings untouched. No official guidance covers photography, but it is courteous not to photograph people during ceremonies.

The site is close to central Hirara, about a 5-minute walk north of Hirara Port, the main harbour of Miyako Island. Miyako Airport is about 5 km away, roughly 10 minutes by car or taxi. Official sources do not mention dedicated parking, so drivers should use a car park nearby.