Rediscoveries in 2025!

Good afternoon😊.

I’m M, here to deliver some interesting finds and stories about the excavation surveys within Futenma Air Station.

In my last post, I wrote about how there are 103 Archaeological Sites just in Futenma Air Station, but did you know that among these, 2 were added just last year😲?

These two include the Kamiyama Mi-ga Spring and the Ginowan Inga Spring.

Before the war, there were three natural springs: Me-nuka, Kushinuka and Mi-ga; often referred to as the front spring, back spring, and the new spring according to their kanjis. Me-nuka and Kushinuka were regularly used as the village’s daily water supply, but Mi-ga was not due to its accessibility inside the cave.

According to legend, the Gama (cave in Okinawa dialect) was as wide as a gymnasium, and a pond was created inside by stacking rocks. The gama was often used by women for bathing as it is hard to see from the outside. Apparently, the water was ice-cold! (I wonder how they bathed🤔)

Although the existence of the cave was known to the locals back then, the Mi-ga was not regularly used as daily water supply. However, a 7-month long drought in 1905 (Meiji 38) led for this spring to be dug up for its water supply. From this event, though the Mi-ga is written as ‘New River’ in kanji, a showa-born local believes that its kanji name is mistaken for the ‘Snake River’ - because the drought happened in the Year of the Snake.

In present day, the Kamiyama Mi-ga Spring with its exact location unknown, was thought to be long lost. There are no photos left behind, and stories from the locals led to no luck- thus, believed to be buried and no longer.

However!

In 2025, while surveying bat activity, we entered an unnamed cave- and, to our surprise, rediscovered the Mi-ga hidden within the cave!

The Mi-ga is in a dome-shaped cave, also known as a Cave Spring. The water runs clear, the stacked stones remain in good conditions, and there is no sludge-like smell in the cave.

Moreover, we found that there has been a replacement of the censer, with a stone-like feature, at the space where censers are usually placed.

The real censer is currently kept safe in the Hometown Association Office. It is believed that 15 to 20 years after the war, that the people of the Association Office moved the censer away from the Mi-ga.

We have put together a special video featuring the discovery of Kamiyama Mi-ga! Please take a peek and enjoy! 😊

The second site is called the Ginowan Inga Spring.

The name is derived from its origin story of how a dog found the spring; the ‘In’ refers to dog while ‘Ga’ refers to spring in Okinawa dialect.

It is located in Aza Ginowan in a doline, and was used as daily water supply.

📌Doline: a sinkhole in the ground, usually in limestone areas.

This sinkhole is believed to have formed when the ceiling of a former cave collapsed.

Unlike the Kamiyama Mi-ga, the location of the Inga had long been known. However, due to ongoing collapse, it is now in buried condition. In light of this situation, it has been designated and publicly recognized as an archaeological site! By recognizing it as such, it will be protected from further development😌.

In a photo that was taken in 1983, the stacked stones around the source of the spring water appeared

to be ruined. There was also a censer on the top part of the spring.

These springs are a precious heritage, connecting the memories of those who once lived here, with the history of Ginowan City. As we continue our ongoing surveys, we look forward to discovering more archaeological sites to ensure its preservation for the future.

Please stay tuned for our next update!