Noro, Baby, Light My Fire
August 25, 2026
by William P. Meyers

Site Search

Popular pages:

When fire was precious

When I wrote and published U.S. War Against Asia I purposefully kept the volume thin. I believe the overview is the most important aspect of the book: the United States has a long history of aggression against Asian (and Pacific island) nations that is left out or spun in our history books and popular culture. Many of the large numbers of books I used as sources are thicker than my final product. For instance, I did not go much into battles between Japan and the U.S. during World War II. Instead I showed what really led up to the war and what the results of the war were.

The Battle of Okinawa was one of the most important of that Pacific war. Okinawa has continued to generate news in America from time to time because we kept it as an ongoing staging area for our wars against Asians, and when it was returned to Japan it was with the stipulation that America would keep military bases on the island. I knew little about Okinawa itself, except that its kings usually allowed that they were subjects of both Japan and China. So when I saw the book Okinawa, the History of an Island People, in a nearby Little Free Library, I grabbed the book. At home I noticed its binding was a work of art; it had been printed in Japan. The author is George H. Kerr. The book was published in 1958, so it is not at all up to date. Used copies, including more recent paperback printings, are available at Abe Books.

It turns out that Okinawa, and the relatively nearby Ryukyu islands, is interesting for anthropological reasons. As islands go, it is relatively large at 463 square miles (1,199 sq. km.). It is also fairly far from mainland China, about 500 miles. It is about 400 miles from Japan proper. It is a part of a chain of islands, large and small, off the east coast of mainland Asia. Presumably anyone arriving in Okinawa, in prehistoric times, would have done so by accident. The rocky island has little agriculturally favorable land, so early populations almost certainly lived off food from the ocean, particularly what was available at low tides.

It is possible to bring fire on a boat, or to bring fire making tools, or at least the knowledge of how to start a fire by primitive methods. But if people arrived by accident, they might have lived without the benefits of fire, eating foods raw. Located in a subtropical zone, they would not have needed fire for warmth.

Either because of the societies these castaways came from, or because matriarchies make sense in primitive societies, there is some evidence that women ruled or had high stature in early times on Okinawa. We are not sure that the islands called Wa included Okinawa, but most likely they did. "A history of the later Han dynasty says that the Wa people were ruled by women." [Kerr, p 31] We know for certain that "The noro priestesses of Okinawa were closely associated with local government until the 20th century and are still held in awe and esteem in the smaller off-lying islands along the Ryukyu chain." [p. 32]

Noro priestesses had great influence in Okinawa even after, likely under Japanese and Chinese influence, governance and society became patriarchal. Until the late 1800s a daughter or sister of the local king would be his high priestess, with power derived from her connection to the spirit world.

But the most important task of a noro was the preservation of fire. In each family one woman was assigned to this task, a daughter who was expected to remain a virgin. "Fire was a communal treasure, in itself a living thing, handed on from generation to generation." [p. 32] The most senior fire preserver of each village or clan was highly esteemed. Her fire itself was of highest rank and the other fires symbolized the relationships of the community. Other noro duties included spiritual rituals and divining which days would be best for marriages or agricultural tasks.

A great question for anthropologists and curious humans is how much this noro culture generalized other primitive cultures that were later overwritten by patriarchies. We know that many pre-Christian religions had female deities alongside their male ones.

Even in Japan "Legend ascribes leadership in this important movement to Jimmu, grandson of the Sun Goddess, [and] makes him the first emperor." [p. 33]

At present fire is not hard to come by in most of our globe's societies. But fairness for women is. During my lifetime in the United States I have watched the status of women rise. While some Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu sects continue to push back against this progress, I hope future generations will see the blessings of gender equality.