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The Noro, priestess of Okinawa’s traditional
religion (nothing Japanese here). She is the
one who speaks with the gods, the mediator
of the dead, the major figure in a matriarchal
culture of which one finds examples, strangely
enough, on other islands. She presides over
festivals and rites, through her is perpetuated
the myth of the sister-goddess, without whom
the brothers would be lost on the open sea
(Okinawa is a land of sailors, of fishermen).
Once held in honor, present alongside the
monarchs (when Okinawa was a kingdom),
she is now nothing more than a slightly
spooked villager, not even a clandestine,
why bother?

La Noro