These statutes/figures are everywhere in Okinawa. They are very important to the culture and guard every possible house, government building, office, restaurant, etc…

In Okinawa/Ryukyuan culture, they are part of the Chinese part of the history of this tiny little island. In english, we call them Shi Shi’s.  In Okinawa, they are called Shiisaa. Either way, it means these guardians which protect the location.  Wikipedia explains this better then we can. “believed to protect from some evils. People place pairs of shisa on their rooftops or flanking the gates to their houses, with the left shisa traditionally has a closed mouth, the right one an open mouth. The open mouth traditionally wards off evil spirits, and the closed mouth keeps good spirits in.”

The shishis above are from the front of our house. We have three. The pair together literally guard our door. At night a shadow falls right between the two and lands on our front door.  We are thankful that these are not necessary in Christ. He is our guardian, our shelter, and our refuge. He will keep us and protect us.