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Founding
Founding of Shuri Castle
Ryukyuan gusuku castle
- 14th century – 1958
Founding
Ryukyuan gusuku castle
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Shuri Castle (Japanese: 首里城, Hepburn: Shuri-jō; Okinawan: Sui Gusuku) is a Ryukyuan gusuku castle in the historic Shuri district of Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Between 1429 and 1879, it was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, before becoming largely neglected. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed. The site of Shuri Castle has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 1972.
After the war, the castle was re-purposed as a university campus. Beginning in 1992, the central citadel and walls were largely reconstructed on the original site based on historical records, photographs, and memory. In 2000, Shuri Castle was designated as a World Heritage Site, as a part of the Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu. The Shoen and Sasu-no-ma Gardens (鎖之間庭園) were designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 2009.
On the morning of 31 October 2019, the main courtyard structures of the castle were again destroyed in a fire. Reconstruction is ongoing and is expected to be fully completed by the autumn of 2026, with a completion ceremony scheduled for November 22.
The date of construction is uncertain, but it was clearly in use as a castle during the Sanzan period (1322–1429). It is thought that it was probably built during the Gusuku period, like many other castles of Okinawa. When King Shō Hashi unified the three principalities of Okinawa and established the Ryukyu Kingdom, he used Shuri as a residence. At the same time, Shuri flourished as the capital and continued to do so during the Second Shō dynasty.
For 450 years from 1429, it was the royal court and administrative center of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It was the focal point of foreign trade, as well as the political, economic, and cultural heart of the Ryukyu Islands. According to records, the castle burned down several times, and rebuilt each time. During the reign of Shō Nei, samurai forces from the Japanese feudal domain of Satsuma seized Shuri on 6 May 1609. The Japanese withdrew soon afterwards, returning Shō Nei to his throne two years later, and the castle and city to the Ryukyuans, though the kingdom was now a vassal state under Satsuma's suzerainty and would remain so for roughly 250 years.
In the 1850s, Commodore Matthew C. Perry twice forced his way into Shuri Castle, but was denied an audience with the king both times. In 1879, the kingdom was annexed by the Empire of Japan and the last king, Shō Tai, was compelled to move to Tokyo, and in 1884, he was granted the rank of marquess in the kazoku peerage. Subsequently, the castle was used as a barracks by the Imperial Japanese Army. The Japanese garrison withdrew in 1896, but not before having created a series of tunnels and caverns below it. Shuri Castle was used as a military camp by the Imperial Japanese Army's 6th Division, until 1908, when Shuri City bought the castle; however, they did not have funding to renovate it. The Okinawa Prefectural Shuri Girls' High School (Shuri Elementary School for Girls, Okinawa Prefectural Girls' Technical School) was built on its grounds in 1912. By 1923, the dilapidated Seiden was considered for demolition due to the risk of collapse. However, thanks to the efforts of Tokyo Imperial University professor and architect Ito Chuta who was conducting cultural research in Okinawa, the demolition plan was halted. Instead, in order to make the building subject to the 1897 Ancient Shrines and Temples Preservation Law, Okinawa Shrine was built behind the Seiden and the Seiden was designated as the Shinto shrine's worship hall, allowing it to be restored using national funds. When the National Treasure Preservation Law was enacted in 1929, it was designated a national treasure and was to be preserved by the state. Despite its decline, historian George H. Kerr described the castle as "one of the most magnificent castle sites to be found anywhere in the world, for it commands the countryside below for miles around and looks toward distant sea horizons on every side."
During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army's 32nd Army had set up its headquarters in a bunker beneath the castle, and by early 1945 had established complex lines of defense and communications in the regions around Shuri, and across the southern part of the island as a whole. The Japanese defenses, centered on Shuri Castle, held off the massive American assault from 1 April through the month of May 1945. Beginning on 25 May, and as the final part of the Okinawa campaign, the American battleship Mississippi shelled it for three days and by 27 May it was ablaze. The Japanese retreated during the night, abandoning Shuri, and an estimated 5000 wounded soldiers who could not walk committed suicide in the underground bunker while the US forces continued to pursue the remaining survivors south. US Marine and Army units secured the castle against little resistance. On 29 May, Maj. Gen. Pedro del Valle—commanding the 1st Marine Division—ordered Captain Julian D. Dusenbury of Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines to capture the castle, which represented both strategic and psychological blows for the Japanese and was a milestone in the campaign. Many cultural assets of the Ryukyu Kingdom were destroyed in the fighting, including many historical documents. The treasure house escaped damage, but all of the treasures inside were looted by the US military. Some of the property was returned shortly after the war, and the locations of others have been identified and negotiations for their return are currently underway.
After the war, the University of the Ryukyus was established in 1950 on the castle site, where it remained until 1975. In 1958, Shureimon was reconstructed and, starting from 1992, the 20th anniversary of reversion, the main buildings and surrounding walls of the central castle were reconstructed. At present, the entire area around the castle has been established as "Shuri Castle Park". In 2000, along with other gusuku and related sites, it was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, only remnants such as stone walls and building foundations extant before 1950 are officially designated as World Heritage. In addition, 2000 saw the Shureimon gate at Shuri Castle featured on the new 2000 yen note, which entered circulation to commemorate the new millennium and the 26th G8 summit, which was held in Okinawa.
In the morning of 31 October 2019, a large fire broke out and burned down the Seiden, the main hall, and also the Hokuden and Nanden, adjacent buildings to the north and south. A security alarm went off around 2:30 a.m., and a call to emergency services was placed around 10 minutes later. The Seiden, Hokuden, Nanden and Bandokoro were completely destroyed. According to domestic news sources, "Six castle buildings occupying some 4,200 square metres (45,000 sq ft) in total were gutted." The fire was put out around 1:30 p.m.
Okinawa Police later told domestic broadcaster NHK that a security guard who checked on the alarm found that the main entrance doors to the Seiden were closed. When the guard unlocked the shutter and went inside, the interior was already filled with smoke. After police initially ruled out arson, authorities said that the fire was likely caused by an electrical fault after a burned electrical distribution board was found in the northeast side of where the Seiden had stood. Police investigations later revealed that the lighting panel had no signs of short circuiting, though a surveillance camera did capture flashing light in the Seiden main hall shortly before and after the fire.
The fire was the fifth time that Shuri Castle has been destroyed following previous incidents in 1453, 1660, 1709 and 1945. Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki said after the fire that Shuri Castle is "a symbol of the Ryukyu Kingdom, an expression of its history and culture", and has vowed to rebuild it. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that Shuri Castle is "an extremely important symbol of Okinawa". The Japanese Government is considering supplemental appropriations to support restoration work. UNESCO also said it would be ready to assist with Shuri Castle's reconstruction. A crowdfunding campaign set up by Naha City officials for the rebuilding of Shuri Castle had received over $3.2 million in donations as of 6 November 2019.
Rebuilding efforts to restore the destroyed sections of Shuri Castle began in February 2020. Restoration of the roof tiles began in July 2024, and at that time it was expected that the renovations would be fully completed by the autumn of 2026.
In May 2021, a scale replica of the castle measuring one twenty fifth of the size of the actual structure was recreated at the Tobu World Square theme park in Kinugawa Onsen.
The exterior of the main hall was restored in 2025, with interior renovations expected to be completed in the autumn of 2026.
Unlike Japanese castles, Shuri Castle was greatly influenced by Chinese architecture, with functional and decorative elements similar to that seen primarily in the Forbidden City. The gates and various buildings were painted in red with lacquer, walls and eaves colorfully decorated, and roof tiles made of Goryeo and later red Ryukyuan tiles, and the decoration of each part heavily using the king's dragon. Given that the Nanden and Bandokoro were both used for reception and entertainment of the Satsuma clan, a Japanese style design was used here only.
Ryukyuan elements also dominate. Like other gusuku, the castle was built using Ryukyuan limestone, being surrounded by an outer shell which was built during the Second Shō dynasty from the second half of the 15th century to the first half of the 16th century. Similarly, Okushoin-en is the only surviving garden in a gusuku in the Ryukyu Islands, which made use of the limestone bedrock and arranged using local cycads.
The current renovation is designed with a focus on the castle's role as a cultural or administrative/political center, rather than one for military purposes. The buildings that had been restored as original wooden buildings (and subsequently destroyed in the 2019 fire) were only in the main citadel. The Seiden was rebuilt using wood from Taiwan and elsewhere after rituals blessing the removal of large trees from mountains in the Yanbaru region of Okinawa took place. Other buildings, such as the Nanden or Hokuden were only restored as facades, with interiors made using modern materials such as steel and concrete. Old walls remain in part, and were excavated and incorporated during the construction of the new castle wall, forming the only surviving external remains of the original castle.
Due to its central role in Ryukyuan political and religious life, Shuri is composed of and surrounded by various sites of historical interest. The castle complex itself can be divided into three main zones, namely a central administrative area (including the Seiden (Okinawan: Umundashī-udun) and main courtyard (Okinawan: U-naa)), an eastern living and ceremonial space (behind the Seiden, called the Ouchibara (Okinawan: Uuchibara, lit. "inside field")), and a southwestern ceremonial area including the Kyo-no-uchi (Okinawan: Chuu-nu-uchi, literally "inside capital")).
All of the buildings located at Shuri Castle are modern reconstructions, the originals being lost in 1945.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Shuri Castle”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.