Kikoe-ōgimi

Kikoe-ōgimi (聞得大君/きこゑ大きみ; Okinawan: Chifi-ufujin or Chifijin) is the title worn by the highest priestess of the ryūkyūan religion. Although the title is mentioned in sources dealing with periods older than the Ryūkyū Kingdom, the current characteristics of the function have been fixed during the great religious reform at the beginning of the second Shō dynasty.^: 33

Kikoe-ōgimi is the onarigami (おなり神) (the “sister-goddess” of the person with the highest status in the Ryūkyū Kingdom: the king. She protects by her spiritual power non only the king but also the whole kingdom. The function is assumed by a woman close to the king (sister, queen, daughter) or a member of a minor branch of the royal family.^{: 181–182}

Kikoe-ōgimi is at the top of the hierarchy of the noro priestesses of the whole kingdom and owns direct authority on them, although the king appoints them. She is responsible for the ceremonies held at the most sacred site of Okinawa Island, Sēfa Utaki as well as the ones given in the ten utakis inside Shuri Castle.

Kikoe-ōgimi is the incarnation of three deities who express themselves through her: "Shimasenko", "Akeshino" and "Tedashiro".