kenleewrites in 日本

Okinawa wasn’t always one of Japan’s many prefectures. In fact, it was a small independent kingdom to begin with. The Ryukyu Kingdom ruled the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) for almost 400 years before they were annexed by Japan. Back when the Ryukyu Kingdom was still around, the King held his court at Shurijo.

Another interesting fact, the Ryukyu Kingdom had a tributary relationship with China since the 15th century. When the Satsuma clan invaded the kingdom in 1609, they were forced into maintaining a tributary relationship with Satsuma and the Tokugawa shogunate; this on top of their relationship with China. Must have been pretty hard for them. Small ocean kingdom getting bullied all the time. ><.

More than 450 years of trade and cultural relations with China, Japan and the nations of Southeast Asia produced a unique cultural and artistic heritage that flowered in the splendor of this ocean kingdom, the Kingdom of Ryukyu. Shurijo Castle was the center of the Kingdom’s politics, economy and culture and also the wellspring of religious life throughout the islands of Ryukyu. Now as a component of the Okinawa Commemorative National Government Park, Shurijo Castle communicates Okinawa’s history and culture to people of today and stands as a legacy to the future. Although influenced by China and Japan, Shurijo Castle was built with uniquely Ryukyuan architectural styles and construction techniques.

Getting there. The nearest monorail station to Shurijo Castle, is Shuri Station. You can’t miss it. It’s on the one end of the monorail; the other end being the airport. From the station, you can walk to the Castle site or take a bus.

As you can see from the map, it isn’t that far of a walk.

I decided to take a bus as the fare was pretty cheap; ¥100.

The roof of the gates look very chinese to me. I noticed quite the chinese influence in their buildings.

They had really unique walls. See the curved corners? It all looks just like a jigsaw puzzle. It must have taken the artisans quite a while to create those nice curves.

The weather wasn’t picture perfect when I went. There was a big rain cloud just waiting to pour buckets over our heads. ><.

Just about to get into the main compound.

This is the main building where the King held his court and administrated his Kingdom. All other officials had to commute, unless you happen to be a high ranking female official. It seemed like that was a different story.

They used very ingenious “lego” blocks. Take a closer look at the wooden blocks. Everything is made to fit. Probably no glue and nails required.

I found this rather interesting as well. Any of you interested in wall construction?

A nice window. Doesn’t protect you from blowpipe-using assassins though. ><.

Not the Nike we know, but they had nike back then too. ^^.

The throne room. Looks extremely chinese.

Lots of dragons and calligraphy on the walls. Apparently the calligraphy were presents from Chinese emperors. I don’t think it’s the real thing now. Probably replicas.

Heavy is the crown that sits upon the head.

The Royal Seal of the Ryukyu King was from a Chinese Qing Emperor.

This was probably what it looked like way back in the day. All officials have to attend new year celebrations; the religious highlight of the kingdom.

Every official had to attend. See them sitting in different rows? The higher ranking officials get to sit closer to the king. The color of their garment as well as their caps differentiate them apart. See the King sitting up there?

This is another ceremony. The Sappou-Gishiki. The appointment of the Ryukyu King by the current Chinese Emperor.

Of course the Emperor did not make the trip himself. He send out his heralds.

Recognize the official uniforms from the Qing Dynasty?

The Ryukyus had an elaborate system to tell time. They used a water clock and a sundial to tell the time.

A bell house. Probably struck every hour or so. The time they used was half an hour behind Japanese Standard Time.

The bell house is probably recent, but I like the natural-looking block of wood supporting it.

I know there are all sorts of vending machines in Japan, but this it the first time I’ve seen one selling umbrellas!

The castle is built on top of a hill. Being on top of a hill means 2 things.
1) Climbing the hill to get home.

2) Nice city views.

Do you like to live on top of a hill?

The buildings weren’t always red. A long time ago they were all gray. It wasn’t until much later in the Ryukyu’s history that they started using red to paint their Castle.

A little trivia for you. Shurijo Castle. Actually “Castle” is already included in the kanji for Shurijo, 首里城, 城 (jyou) means castle. The same goes for river names in English. It’s pretty common in Japan for a river to be called… eg, Tamagawa River in English, but in kanji, 多摩川 (Tamagawa) already has the river suffix “川 (kawa)”. Just fyi.

The last page of the guide pamphlet has this stamp rally page. At every location throughout the castle, there are rubber stamps. Collect 12 or more and you can get a special reward… only for junior high school students or younger. I was pretty disappointed. I like rewards. Well, if you’re visiting with kids, that’s how they will occupy their time I guess. ^^.