Gusuku of Ryukyu

Visit June2023. It seems that most visitors of this site only visit the elements around Naha, the southern part of the Okinawa Island. Our Okinawa stay was three nights, and we visited all nine elements of this site. We picked up our rental car at the airport and drove immediately up to the northern part of the island. As we first visited the subtropical rainforests in the northern part of Okinawa (WHS), we approached these Gusukus of Ryukyu from north (or northeast).

The northernmost Gusuku is Nakijin-jô naturally became our first visit. Nakijin Castle Ruins are huge, probably the biggest site in this “collection”. It’s a ruin of a castle residing nicely on a hilltop and down the slopes in every direction. The walls are high and even though they probably are restored it gives a good impression of how it once was. In addition to the walls as part of the “main castle” there are living quarters and holy places around inside the outer walls. The surrounding area is lush green and on the hilltop it’s a nice rest for your eyes – looking all the way to the sea.

Next in line (although it’s far from a straight line) was Zakimi-jô which is a ruin of a castle as well. It is a little more than an hour drive from Nakijin. This site is probably the smallest site and the least interesting. It’s the only site without an admission fee, maybe because there is very little …

During our honeymoon in Okinawa, I insisted that we stop at at least a few of the Ryuku sites. The first place we went to was Nakijin-Jo, in the north of the island. Out of the castle ruins, these were the most expansive and still offer both great views and a sense of the scale, size, and layout of the place when it was in use. There is an excellent visitor center and parking. 

While driving south, we stopped at Zakimi-Jo, which was much smaller and more contained, but still nice to see, and a local couple was taking their wedding photos there.  

Later, we visited the main complex at Shuri Castle, which sadly burned down just months after we were there. I certainly am glad they are committed to rebuilding it, because the rebuilt palace complex was stunning. 

However, easily the best of out all the sites (at least the ones we visited) was Sefa-utaki. A little out of the way but very reachable by bus from Naha. This is more of a natural site, a spot of unspoiled tropical forest with massive, limestone formations rising out of the ground. Before it was conquered by Japan and an independent kingdom, this was a place reserved solely for royalty and the priests of the local religion, and that sense of spirituality still pervades the grounds today. Though the ancient religion itself is no longer practice, the locals who tend to the site are still extremely reverent, and …

In November 2019, I spent two weeks in Okinawa Main Island. Thus, I had an opportunity to explore most of the interesting sites that Okinawa offers (1 WHS, 1 TWHS and much more…). It was my second visit to the island (first visit in March 2016). By coincidence, I arrive to Okinawa just few days after the disastrous fire of Shuri Castle that I fortunately managed to visit 3 years ago.

WHS consists of 9 components in total: 5 castles, 1 mausoleum, 1 garden villa, and 2 sacred places (Utaki) from which only one remains intact as the cultural landscape while only the stone gate survived from the other. Selected sites, monuments and landscapes complement each other and express the unique Ryukyuan heritage that is still living in part: Utaki places are still used by locals and I could see a shock of Okinawa people after the fire of Shuri castle, which is a true symbol of Okinawa culture.

This year I visited 6 components (Shuri and Nakijin castles, Tamaudun royal mausoleum, Shikinaen garden villa, Sefa-Utaki cultural landscape and Sonohyan-Utaki gate) thus I now fully understand OUV of this WHS. I have not visited 3 more castles (better said what remained from them) but I think it would not bring anything new to me as Nakijin and Shuri are considered as the best examples. Though it is probably not a world-class, it is certainly unique and I really enjoyed my visit.

I used only public transport or …

I visited in 2007.

Okinawa has traditionally been culturally and linguistically separate from Japan. It wasn't until the late 19th-century that Okinawa became part of the Japanese Empire.

That history is reflected in the structures of this world heritage site. The nine sites which are included in this property all harken back to before it was absorbed into Japan.

I've often said that the Ryukyu Islands are Japan's Hawaii. A chain of islands annexed in the 19th-century with their own culture, and now people go there for warm weather vacations.

Read more about the Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu on my website.

I went to Okinawa in February 2016 on a whim after seeing ads for a flat £60 tourist fare for any domestic Japan flight. We were on a weeklong trip seeing the WHSs of mainland Japan, but I thought it'd make a nice break to fly to Naha for the day and see the 4 subcomponents situated in the city.

Naha is served by a single monorail line that connects its airport, at one end of the line, to Shuri Castle, at the other. It is 820 yen at time of writing, and the largest of the Naha Ryukyu sites. It was completely destroyed in the fierce WWII Battle of Okinawa when the Japanese used it as a defensive position. The castle was rebuilt in the 1990s from historical records, as faithfully as possible.

Next to the castle is another WHS subcomponent, in the form of a gate protecting a sacred grove of trees (free to see). The gate, known as Sonohyan-utaki Ishimon, used to be opened only for the king. There being no Ryukyuan king these days, it is never opened any more.

Just a few metres down the road is the third subcomponent – a mausoleum called Tamaudan. It consists of two stone-walled enclosures, and was the burial site of Ryukyu kings and queens. It costs a nominal 300 yen to get into, and although there is not much to see the guest centre does have a small information room.

The final Ryukyuan site for us was to …

Okinawa sees 3.8 million visitors yearly, but not many of them are foreign tourists. In our ranking of visited WHS this one is at the lower end, sharing its 8 visits with rather remote locations such as Manu National Park in Peru and Konya-Urgench in Turkmenistan.

If you've made it all the way to Okinawa, the inscribed sites are quite easy to visit. Four of them are located in the capital Naha. That's where I started too. The main location is Shuri, the former inland capital which has now been merged with the port city of Naha. Shuri holds 3 out of the 9 WHS locations. Shuri Castle is the main attraction of whole Okinawa, and I encountered lots of school groups there. Here a Gusuku has been fully restored / rebuilt, which gives you an idea of how it functioned.

The Sonohyan-utaki stone gate is located in the same complex and is a strangely mysterious religious site. I was quite captivated by the thought of praying to a stone gate instead of the sacred grove that formerly lay behind it.

Finally, the royal mausoleum Tama-u-dun is a 5-minute walk away. The doors to the burial chambers are forever closed too. What remains is an austere monument, with three sculptured lions located on pedestals guarding it.

In a different part of Naha lies Shikinaen, a garden villa, and a Chinese landscape garden. It's a very serene place (the crowds will not get here), and worth a …

Okinawa is one of the most interesting places in Japan since once it was the capital of ancient independent kingdom of Ryukyu, the prosperous maritime kingdom where international trade influenced its unique culture making the island became a fascinating melting pot of local, Chinese, Japanese with some Southeast Asian touches. On invitation of my friend to see the Okinawan cherry blossom festival on February, which considered the first place to see the flower blooming in Japan, I stayed on the island for one week and had a chance to see the Gusuku sites, one of Japanese World Heritage.

I have visited 5 out of 9 sites that UNESCO inscribed, the first two places are the ruins of Nakijin Gusuku and Naka Gusuku, both were Gusuku which means castle, the castle ruins were just amazing, I never ever expected to see these kind of ruins in the country liked Japan, the ruins made me think that I was looking the Inca or Maya civilization or even the great Zimbabwe ruin in Africa, they were so unique in my opinion, not only the ruins surprised me, the surroundings were just breathtaking, from the castles I could see the beautiful turquoise coral sea of Pacific, the lush tropical forest and many of blooming cherry trees, truly a postcard perfect.

As I mentioned the Gusuku I visited were ruins, both from antiquity and war especially the battle of Okinawa during WWII which destroyed almost every historical site on the island, the …

I visited the WHS in Naha in September 2009.

Sonohyan-utaki Ishimon is a stone gate opposite the stairs that lead up to the Shuri Castle entrance. It is easily overlooked as Shureimon, the main gate to the castle, right next to Sonohyan-utaki Ishimon is more of an eye-catcher. Admission to the gates is free.

The main hall of Shuri Castle was undergoing some renovation i.e. half of the main hall was hidden behind a scaffold. The entrance fee was 800 yen. The fee also gives you access to the excellent museum (English text available). One should know that Shuri Castle is a reconstruction of the original castle which was destroyed in WWII.

Tamaudun: This mausoleum is a short walk west of the Shuri Castle site. For a small entrance fee one gets access to the venue and to a small museum. Note that there are no English descriptions in the museum.

Shikina-en, the royal gardens about 2 km south of the Shuri Castle site, offer an interesting mixture of Japanese layout, Ryûkyûan architecture, and Chinese elements. Don’t expect a fancy Japanese garden. Simplicity prevails.

I visited the Gusuku Castle Ruin in Kitanakagusuku, Okinawa on 29 Oct 05. The fee for adults was 300 yen. The castle ruins itself is impressive. There is some restoration still taking place, but the fee is well worth it.

On the same day of my visit, a friend accompanied me. He and I also planned on checking out the "haunted" hotel. We had brought flashlights and were prepared to thoroughly investigate the nooks and crannys of the hotel. We visited on a sunny day, so we didn't need to use the flashlights that much. Before visiting we made sure that we had new batteries, just to make sure. We were standing inside a hallway, which seemed to be an entry way from the hotel's access road to the upper tier and lookout. Across the street from where we were standing there is one tomb that had the cement block removed and a cave that was cemented and had a small shrine in front. As my friend and I were talking, his flashlight quickly went from shining brightly to nothing. It was as if the power had been drained from it. He had a small pocket flashlight as a backup, which he pulled out and it too began to have a power drain. Seeing this I turned on my flashlight and it was fine. He swore to me, with a look of astonishment, that the batteries in both were new. It was at that point that he took out his …

The gusuku castle sites are certainly a must for anybody interested in visiting castles, castle ruins - in particular, Japanese castles. Shuri Castle is quite impressive, although it's just a copy of the original that was lost to WWII, it's one of the most beautifullest places on the island of Okinawa and certainly is a gem. The other castles such as Nakagusuku and Nakajin and Zakimi are ruins and are worth also the visit. Nakagusuku castle ruins are also known as the "haunted castle" and the ruins are beautiful. You can walk around the castle grounds and view the surroundings and scenery. Next to the castle ruins are the modern ruins of the haunted hotel that was burnt over 20 years ago which remains intact. A walk up to the viewing tower of the hotel will give you a spectacular view of the island's western side and castle grounds. To better experience the haunted feeling of the Nakagusuku and the haunted hotel is at night (bring a flashlight). Nakajin Castle and Zakimi Castle have beautiful views as well when you stand on their walls.