“Omorōsaushi,” is the name of the oldest Ryukyuan collection of songs. “Omoro” means thought, and “saushi” refers to a paper-bound book. Therefore, “omorosaushi” means “the record of the people’s thoughts.” In order to fully comprehend this, it’s necessary to take a deeper look at the name of the book itself.
First, we have Omoro. We imagine that this word draws its origin from the religious song, “Kami-uta” or “God Song.” In olden times, the governance of the country was left to the men, while religious matters were left to the women. It was thought that women were better able to commune with spirits and were often sent to religious spots called “utaki” or “haisho” to hold rituals for happiness and good harvest on the village’s behalf. The name of that prayer was “omoro.” It was a commune of humans and gods that carried the gratitude of the people.
Under the Ryukyu Kingdom, there was a policy that the women of the royal family be given the position of highest ranking priests, or the “Kikoe-Ogimi,” or, alternatively, each village would appoint a “Noro”, or head priestess for the village. The kingdom collected the prayer songs of each village “Noro” and compiled them into this collection, the “Omorosaushi.”
These poems make up one epic poem that details the origins of the Ryukyu Kingdom, praises the King and the “Kikoe-Ogimi,” and tells of nature and the seasons, and of the Chinese vassal ships finding land after a long voyage across the sea. This book details the bringing about of the Ryukyu Kingdom, its perspective, and its various happenings, so while it is a collection of poems and literature, at the same time, it is also a work of nonfiction.
This collection is an important piece of Ryukyuan history which, to this day, continues to be studied and analyzed. Omoro-saushi is said to be the origin for Okinawan folk songs such as the Kumi-odori, a traditional narrative style Ryukyuan dance, and Ryu-ka, an Okinawan fixed-form poetry style. If you are able to decipher the old dialect, there is no doubt you would find the origins of Okinawa hidden in the words there.