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==Geography & Sites==
==Geography & Sites==
The royal palace, [[Shuri castle]], faced west towards China. A major boulevard called Aijô-ufumichi (J: ''Ayamon ômichi'') extended west from the castle's main gate, the [[Shureimon]]; this boulevard was home to a number of significant sites, many of which have been restored today. These include the Chûzanmon (second gate after the Shureimon); [[Nakagusuku udun]], the Crown Prince's mansion, which may be restored by 2020; the royal mausoleum, [[Tamaudun]]; [[Ankokuzen-ji]], another major Zen temple patronized by the royal family; and the ''[[Uchakuya]]'', an office/residence used by the ''[[zaiban bugyo|zaiban bugyô]]'', a representative of [[Satsuma han]].<ref>Plaques on-site at Shuri castle.</ref> The grounds of the castle, along with [[Sonohyan utaki]] (a sacred site at the castle), Shikinaen, and Tamaudun, were named UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]]s in 2000, as part of a group called "Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu."
The royal palace, [[Shuri castle]], faced west towards China. A major boulevard called Aijô-ufumichi (J: ''Ayamon ômichi'') extended west from the castle's main gate, the [[Shureimon]]; this boulevard was home to a number of significant sites, many of which have been restored today. These include the Chûzanmon (second gate after the Shureimon); [[Nakagusuku udun]], the Crown Prince's mansion; the royal mausoleum, [[Tamaudun]]; the Buddhist temples [[Ankokuzen-ji]] and [[Jigen-in]]; and the ''[[Uchakuya]]'', an office/residence used by the ''[[zaiban bugyo|zaiban bugyô]]'', a representative of [[Satsuma han]].<ref>Plaques on-site at Shuri castle.</ref> The grounds of the castle, along with [[Sonohyan utaki]] (a sacred site at the castle), Shikinaen, and Tamaudun, were named UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]]s in 2000, as part of a group called "Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu."
King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]] constructed a cobblestone road network known as Pearl Road (''shinju michi'') in [[1522]], connecting Shuri and a series of [[gusuku|fortresses]] built to defend the city. One section of that road, known as the [[Shuri Kinjo stone-paved road|Shuri Kinjô stone-paved road]], survives today a short distance south of the castle.<ref>''[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-41691-storytopic-121.html Shuri Kinjô-chô ishitatami michi]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia 沖縄コンパクト事典, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.</ref>
King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]] constructed a cobblestone road network known as Pearl Road (''shinju michi'') in [[1522]], connecting Shuri and a series of [[gusuku|fortresses]] built to defend the city. One section of that road, known as the [[Shuri Kinjo stone-paved road|Shuri Kinjô stone-paved road]], survives today a short distance south of the castle.<ref>''[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-41691-storytopic-121.html Shuri Kinjô-chô ishitatami michi]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia 沖縄コンパクト事典, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.</ref>
A large marketplace, called ''ufumachi'' (大市), once stood just outside the castle grounds - north of the Shureimon and west of the Ryûtan. This was the chief marketplace in Shuri, providing food and other goods to the residents. The location is today the site of Jôsei Elementary School.<ref name=pamph>"Shuri ma~i" 首里ま～い. Pamphlet. Naha City Board of Education Cultural Properties Division 那覇市教育委員会文化財課, 1989. </ref> It was neighbored by a royal horse-riding grounds, the [[Matsuzaki riding grounds|Matsuzaki baba]], and by the Nakagusuku udun, the Crown Prince's mansion, which was moved from Aijô-ufumichi to that location, north of the Ryûtan, in [[1875]]. The Okinawa Prefectural Museum was later built on that site, but there are now plans to restore the mansion, as a culture & community center, by 2020. The Okinawa Prefectural University of the Arts is located nearby.
Other significant religious sites in the city included the royal family temples of [[Tenno-ji|Tennô-ji]] and [[Tenkai-ji]], the shrine [[Sueyoshi Shrine]], and a number of small ''utaki'' such as [[Adani-ga-daki|Adani-gaa-daki]], as well as the residences of the ''[[kikoe-ogimi|kikoe-ôgimi]]'' (royal head priestess) and of two of the [[Oamushirare|high priestesses]] under her. A post-road (''[[shuku michi]]'') led from Adani-gaa-daki to the former capital of [[Urasoe]].
==History==
==History==
The castle may have been built as early as the 1230s,<ref>Kerr, George. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Revised Edition. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing (2000), 50. </ref> or sometime in the 1350s-1390s according to most sources, but it was certainly in place, in any case, by [[1427]], just before the unification of Okinawa & establishment of the Ryûkyû Kingdom under King [[Sho Hashi|Shô Hashi]].
The castle may have been built as early as the 1230s,<ref>Kerr, George. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Revised Edition. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing (2000), 50. </ref> or sometime in the 1350s-1390s according to most sources, but it was certainly in place, in any case, by [[1427]], just before the unification of Okinawa & establishment of the Ryûkyû Kingdom under King [[Sho Hashi|Shô Hashi]]. Shô Hashi made Shuri his capital, leaving the former royal palace at Urasoe. A secondary royal mansion, built for the Crown Prince and called [[Ufumi udun]], was built just outside the castle sometime before [[1487]]; it would later be used as a maternity hut for members of the royal family, as a secondary residence, and in the 1850s as the regent's mansion.
The city was considerably expanded as King Shô Shin (r. [[1477]]-[[1526]]) consolidated power into the capital, as well as under his successor, [[Sho Sei (1497-1555)|Shô Sei]] ([[1527]]-[[1555]]). [[Engaku-ji]], the chief family temple of the [[Sho Dynasty|Shô Dynasty]], was established in [[1492]]. The royal mausoleum at Tamaudun was completed in [[1501]],<ref>Kerr, 109.</ref> the [[Benten]] Hall and its attached Tennyo Bridge at [[Ryutan|Ryûtan]] Pond were built the following year, and the cobblestone road to the south in [[1522]].
The city was considerably expanded as King Shô Shin (r. [[1477]]-[[1526]]) consolidated power into the capital, as well as under his successor, [[Sho Sei (1497-1555)|Shô Sei]] ([[1527]]-[[1555]]). [[Engaku-ji]], the chief family temple of the [[Sho Dynasty|Shô Dynasty]], was established in [[1492]]. The royal mausoleum at Tamaudun was completed in [[1501]],<ref>Kerr, 109.</ref> the [[Benten]] Hall and its attached Tennyo Bridge at [[Ryutan|Ryûtan]] Pond were built the following year, and the cobblestone road to the south in [[1522]].
The city, and the castle, fell to samurai invaders from Satsuma han in [[1609]]/4. Following the [[invasion of Ryukyu|invasion]], the Ryukyuan government, bureaucracy, and society were left intact, and King [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]] restored to his throne two years later. The kingdom was permitted to retain considerable autonomy in its domestic affairs, with Satsuma being chiefly interested in exploiting Ryûkyû for its commercial connections, and the prestige of claiming a foreign kingdom as a vassal. Shuri was rebuilt following its destruction at the hands of these samurai invaders, and came to house an office/residence for Satsuma officials, but otherwise was largely unaffected by the political shift, in terms of the city's character, layout, and even administration.
The city, and the castle, fell to samurai invaders from Satsuma han in [[1609]]/4. Following the [[invasion of Ryukyu|invasion]], the Ryukyuan government, bureaucracy, and society were left intact, and King [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]] restored to his throne two years later. The kingdom was permitted to retain considerable autonomy in its domestic affairs, with Satsuma being chiefly interested in exploiting Ryûkyû for its commercial connections, and the prestige of claiming a foreign kingdom as a vassal. Shuri was rebuilt following its destruction at the hands of these samurai invaders, and came to house an office/residence for Satsuma officials, but otherwise was largely unaffected by the political shift, in terms of the city's character, layout, and even administration.
Shuri suffered fires in [[1660]], [[1690]], [[1709]],<ref>Kerr, 221.</ref> and [[1730]], but then survived without such disasters for over 200 years, until its destruction along with much of the rest of the island in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa.
In the 17th century, the city was divided into three wards, which were then referred to as Shuri Mihira (首里三平等). The people of Shuri also called the city the "motherland" (''Sui ueeguni'', 首里親国).<ref name=pamph/>
Shuri suffered fires in [[1660]], [[1690]], [[1709]],<ref>Kerr, 221.</ref> and [[1730]], but then survived without such disasters for over 200 years, until 1945.
Following the [[Ryukyu shobun|fall of the kingdom]] in [[1879]], Shuri castle became home to an [[Imperial Japanese Army]] [[Kumamoto garrison|garrison]]. The city eventually got its land back in [[1909]]. The castle, in dilapidated condition but still extant, was turned into a nationalist [[Shinto shrine|shrine]] of [[State Shinto]] in the 1920s, and in the 1930s became a military base, leading to its utter destruction in World War II. The city was destroyed in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, along with much of the rest of the island. Very few original buildings survive - those that do, such as the Tamaudun royal mausoleum, are in stone. In addition to countless lives and homes lost, the kingdom also lost most of its historical sites, religious architecture, and invaluable historical treasures, artifacts, and documents.
Following the war, the castle site became home to the [[University of the Ryukyus]], before being transformed back into a public park in 1992, when reconstruction of the castle commenced. Efforts are underway today to restore some other parts of the traditional "skyline," or traditional look and feel of the Shuri streets, beginning with continuing restoration at the castle, and the reconstruction of Nagagusuku udun.
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