Shuri Castle

After our weekend retreat, some of the PWOC ladies took our guest speakers out to explore some local sites.

After several hundred years of rivalry between warlords, the Okinawa islands were unified as the Ryukyu Kingdom in the early 15th century. For 450 years, Shuri castle was the palace of the King of Ryukyu and was the political, economic and cultural center of the Ryukyu Kingdom.  The current castle is a reconstruction of the 18th century facility as the actual structure was demolished in 1945 when the US military attacked during the Battle of Okinawa.  In the throne room, however, they have a couple of glass panels installed in the floor where you can actually look underneath and see remnants of the original castle ruins.

Our group photo was taken in front of the Seiden (the castle's main hall).  This is where the major state affairs and court ceremonies were held.  It is also the most recognized landmark of Okinawa.  Architectural influences throughout the castle can be seen from China, Japan, Korea and several other neighboring countries.  The Shurei-mon (the second gate) is an architectural structure unique to Okinawa and is sometimes referred to as a symbol of Okinawa.

Una Plaza extends in front of the Seiden and was used for ceremonies in the past. It is encircled on the other three sides by the Hokuden (North Hall), Nanden (South Hall) and the Hoshinmon (Hoshin Gate). The Hokuden and Nanden served as administrative buildings and venues to welcome envoys from China and mainland Japan respectively.

We took a tour of the castle (800 yen), including the traditional tea ceremony (200 yen). They don't actually perform the ceremony.  You go in and they talk about the tea ceremony (in Japanese) while you taste a variety of cookies and have tea that would have been served when the castle was in operation.

The castle also has other attractions that we were unable to see.  Every morning they perform the gate opening ceremony, several days throughout the week they have Ryukyuan Dance demonstrations, and every evening they illuminate the castle from sunset until midnight.  They also host several festivals throughout the year.

Note to mothers, this is not a stroller friendly tourist attraction.  However, the pathways that wind through the park are and they are well worth the walk.  They even have a little map with a stamp adventure for kids at the information center.  If you walk around and get so many stamps (I think it's 8), the kids can redeem their map for a really awesome sticker.  And the park is free, so who can beat that!

Other posts from visits to this site:

Shuri Castle & Nearby Shrine