Shurijo Castle Park - March 20th '06

For many centuries Okinawa was an independent kingdom known as Ryukyu. There are a lot of fortress sites around the island of Okinawa but the most important is Shuri Castle. Shurijo (jo means castle) was the largest castle and served as the main residence of the Ryukyu kings until Okinawa became a prefecture of Japan in 1879. No one knows exactly when it was built but it is believed to have been completed at the end of the 14th century. Shuri is built high at the top of the city of Naha with many layers of gates on the surrounding hillsides. Visiting the area I found it hard to believe that it was completely destroyed during World War II, and was only restored and reopened to the public in 1992. It has been designated one of 11 World Heritage sites by the Government of Japan, the only one in Okinawa. Work is still progressing. The day we were there they were working on areas of the walls. The castle entrance and gates were everything I would have expected to see. It was quite a climb to the entrance and we really got our exercise today. At Shureimon, the second of the castle's main gates there were elaborately dressed girls trying to entice tourists to have souvenir pictures taken in borrowed costumes. We passed on those and took our own pictures.



The Ryukyuns were international traders particularly with the Chinese and this influenced their architecture. The lion-dog or Shisa that Robert is standing next to is a constant theme all over the island and even in the common Okinawan dwellings a lion would have been perched on the roof . (By the way, these photos are clickable so you can see them full size!)









The main hall of the castle is called Seiden. This is where all the official business affairs of the kingdom were accomplished. The courtyard is a lot bigger than it looks in the pictures and the kings had enormous official colorful ceremonies. The royal party would stand on the balcony in the middle of the second floor (underneath the arch)to oversee all.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the Seiden (we weren't allowed to wear shoes either), but a guard let Rob take pictures of the throne room.


Some Japanese tourists offered to take pictures of the American tourists in the flower garden:)


Yes, we really took a picture of the garbage cans at Shuri Castle Park. Read them and you'll see why! They seemed obvious but trying to actually use them became a confusing process. We watched Japanese visitors to see how to use it but they would go through the same process of separating their trash, swinging each door to see inside and then just shrug and throw it in. Maybe someone was secretly filming an episode of Candid Camera!

We read that the Japanese Army had used Shuri Castle as underground headquarters during the Battle of Okinawa by tunneling and extending caves underneath. We didn't see any signs indicating where they were so Rob asked at the information booth. When we found them they were just a couple of steps from the main path leading down toward Buddhist and Shintu shrines but unmarked. Although lots of people wandered by on the path we were the only people seeking the cave entrances out. Everything was very overgrown and it reminded us of a scene out of an Indiana Jones movie. It was very creepy and unsettling and we didn't stay very long.



Bezaitendou is the temple on the left and Enkakuji is on the right. Enkakuji was built in 1428 and is one of the major temples. The temple and the Hojochi pond are restorations but the Hojokyo (little bridge) survived the war intact and has been designated an important cultural asset.


Katherine FINALLY gets to buy a Japanese soda from one of the COOl machines on the way home. What did she choose? Fanta Grape. Brave Girl:)