Minamoto no Tametomo was a warrior of the Minamoto clan, exiled to Izu Ôshima in 1165, in the aftermath of the Hôgen Rebellion. He is the subject of a number of myths and legends, which have him making his way to Okinawa from Ôshima, and fathering Shunten, the first king of Okinawa.
Tametomo was the son of Minamoto no Tameyoshi, brother to Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and thus a direct uncle to Minamoto no Yoritomo, first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate. He lived for a time in Kyushu during his younger days, and is thus associated with the island, and with the term "Chinzei," an alternate name for Kyushu. During his time there, it is said he married a woman named Shiranui, the daughter of Taira no Tadakuni.
Tametomo fought alongside his father in the Hôgen Rebellion of 1156, siding with Emperor Sutoku against Emperor Go Shirakawa (who, incidentally, had Minamoto no Yoshitomo, Tametomo's brother, on his side). After Go-Shirakawa's victory, Yoshitomo was forced to behead his father, Tameyoshi, and several of his brothers and other close relatives who had opposed Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Tametomo, renowned for his skill with a bow, had the ligaments or tendons of his bow arm cut, rendering it useless, before he was exiled to Izu Ôshima.
From this point onwards, history and myth are difficult to tell apart. According to the tales in which he traveled to Ryûkyû, he regained use of his arm before long. On Ôshima, he is said to have taken a young woman named Sasarae, the daughter of the island magistrate Tadashige, as his wife, giving her two sons, Tamemaru and Tomokawa, and a daughter named Shimagimi. He is said to have taken over the island, and several others nearby, before leaving for Ryûkyû, where he is said to have married the chieftain's daughter Nei, and sired the son Shunten.
The legend of his involvement in Ryûkyû is related in numerous Edo period texts; the precise origin of the myth is unclear, but it appears as early as 1650, in the Chûzan Seikan compiled by Ryukyuan royal advisor Shô Shôken. The story is repeated, or elaborated upon, in Arai Hakuseki's 1719 book Nantôshi, Morishima Chûryô's 1790 publication Ryûkyû-banashi, and Takizawa Bakin's novel Chinsetsu yumihari tsuki, which expands the story out to a full novel.
Called locally Tirangama and is written with the Chinese characters meaning the "temple cave". It is located halfway up a limestone cliff overlooking the mouth of the Makiminato River. This is the cave where Shunten and his mother are said to have waited for the return of Tametomo Minamoto. Shunten later went on to become king. At present it has become a sacred area in Makiminato, and there is a place for prayer called "Makiminato no Ben" in the cave.