Nakandakari Hija

Nakandakari Hija, a hija (spring-fed communal fountain) in the village of Tamagusuku Nakandakari, is designated a National Important Cultural Property. It is a complete apparatus of daily life built around water: the Ikiga-ga basin used by men, the Inagu-ga basin used by women, water channels, a stone-paved slope called the kabira, and places of prayer. Descend the stone steps toward the spring, and you can see the long years people have lived with this water etched into every stone.

According to Nanjo City's account, the fountain was rebuilt in Ryukyu limestone between 1912 and the following year by stonemasons from Tsuken Island. Until a simple piped water supply arrived in 1955, this hija stood at the center of village life — a source of drinking water, a place for washing clothes and vegetables, and a place to bathe. Damaged in the Battle of Okinawa, it was later restored to the form it took when first built in stone.

Nakandakari Hija is a cultural property that includes places of prayer, and it adjoins the living spaces of the village. The spring still flows today, so please take care to keep the water clean, show consideration for the places of prayer, and visit quietly. No dedicated parking is provided. Be mindful not to obstruct the village lanes or the daily life of residents.

In an age when water comes at the turn of a tap, it is hard to imagine what a great undertaking securing water once was. Bring your hand close to the spring, and you begin to glimpse the ingenuity that has sustained life in Nanjo.