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Naha was home to one of four sets of scholar-aristocracies in the kingdom, along with Shuri, [[Tomari]], and Kumemura. Members of the Naha aristocracy were selected for certain governmental positions - largely those related to managing trade and the administration of Naha itself - often alongside scholar-officials from Shuri, while other positions were filled exclusively from the Shuri and Kumemura families. The highest position attainable for a member of the Naha scholar-aristocracy was that of ''Omonogusuku osasu-no-soba'', head of the [[Omonogusuku]], the royal storehouse located out in the harbor. The administration of the port town itself was headed by the [[Naha satonushi]] (O: ''Naafa satunushi''), who had under him some ten to twenty officials. Two Naha ''hissha'' and two Naha ''kari hissha'', whose position might be translated as "clerk" or "secretary," oversaw official records and archives, under the authority of the ''Omonogusuku osasu-no-soba'', and a number of Naha ''[[yokome]]'' served as inspectors, investigating local civil cases, under the jurisdiction of the ''[[Jito (Ryukyu)|jitô]]'' of the neighboring port town of Tomari.<ref>''Naha shizoku no isshô'' 那覇士族の一生 (Naha: Naha City Museum of History, 2010), 14.</ref>

Naha was home to one of four sets of scholar-aristocracies in the kingdom, along with Shuri, [[Tomari]], and Kumemura. Members of the Naha aristocracy were selected for certain governmental positions - largely those related to managing trade and the administration of Naha itself - often alongside scholar-officials from Shuri, while other positions were filled exclusively from the Shuri and Kumemura families. The highest position attainable for a member of the Naha scholar-aristocracy was that of ''Omonogusuku osasu-no-soba'', head of the [[Omonogusuku]], the royal storehouse located out in the harbor. The administration of the port town itself was headed by the [[Naha satonushi]] (O: ''Naafa satunushi''), who had under him some ten to twenty officials. Two Naha ''hissha'' and two Naha ''kari hissha'', whose position might be translated as "clerk" or "secretary," oversaw official records and archives, under the authority of the ''Omonogusuku osasu-no-soba'', and a number of Naha ''[[yokome]]'' served as inspectors, investigating local civil cases, under the jurisdiction of the ''[[Jito (Ryukyu)|jitô]]'' of the neighboring port town of Tomari.<ref>''Naha shizoku no isshô'' 那覇士族の一生 (Naha: Naha City Museum of History, 2010), 14.</ref>

Following the fall of the kingdom in the 1870s and its annexation as Okinawa prefecture, Naha absorbed Shuri and became the prefectural capital. Combining with Kumemura and Tomari, it was first designated Naha-ku (Naha Ward), and then in 1921, after absorbing the towns of Kakinohana and Makishi, was named Naha City.<ref name=mai/> As the city modernized, Higashi and Nishi remained the center of political and commercial activity through the prewar period, and into the 1940s. In the 1920s to early 1940s, the main avenue of the city center was ''Ufujômee dûi'' (大門前通り, J: ''Ômon mae dôri'', lit. "Avenue in front of the Great Gate"), which ran roughly along the border between Nishi and Higashi, at a diagonal to today's street grid. The street took its name from the Kumemura Great Gate (O: ''Kuninda ufujô'', J: ''Kumemura ômon'') Three of the chief landmarks along the road were the Naha City Post Office (today, the Higashi-machi post office), Naha City Hall, and the Yamagata-ya department store. The neighborhood immediately around the City Hall was also home to the Naha City Auditorium (''Naha shi kôkaidô''), police and fire stations, banks, theatres, and numerous shops and businesses.<ref name=showanonaha>"Shôwa no Naha fukugen mokkei," pamphlet, Naha City Museum of History, 2014.</ref>

Following the fall of the kingdom in the 1870s and its annexation as Okinawa prefecture, Naha absorbed Shuri and became the prefectural capital. Combining with Kumemura and Tomari, it was first designated Naha-ku (Naha Ward), and then in 1921, after absorbing the towns of Kakinohana and Makishi, was named Naha City.<ref name=mai/> As the city modernized, Higashi and Nishi remained the center of political and commercial activity through the prewar period, and into the 1940s. In the 1920s to early 1940s, the main avenue of the city center was ''Ufujômee dûi'' (大門前通り, J: ''Ômon mae dôri'', lit. "Avenue in front of the Great Gate"), which ran roughly along the border between Nishi and Higashi, at a diagonal to today's street grid. The street took its name from the Kumemura Great Gate (O: ''Kuninda ufujô'', J: ''Kumemura ômon'') Three of the chief landmarks along the road were the Naha City Post Office (today, the Higashi-machi post office), Naha City Hall, and the Yamagata-ya department store. The neighborhood immediately around the City Hall was also home to the Naha City Auditorium (那覇市公会堂, ''Naha shi kôkaidô''), police and fire stations, banks, theatres, and numerous notable shops and businesses. This incarnation of the Naha City Hall, designed by Takeda Goichi, was completed in 1919, in what Takeda termed a "tropical Spanish mission style." This was the first building in Okinawa to be built in steel-reinforced concrete, and was the tallest in Naha; its 23-meter tower, which quickly became a landmark and symbol of the city, was used as a watchtower by the local fire department, and featured sirens which would be used to announce the time.<ref name=showanonaha/>

 

The Naha branch of the Yamagata-ya (the head location being in [[Kagoshima]] City) was the first department store opened in Okinawa. Nearby was the Hirao branch store (平尾分店), opened in [[1892]] by [[Nara]] native Hirao Minokichi and selling both Western and Japanese clothing, and various other goods, as well as the Namikawa Hardware Store (並川金物店), run by another Nara native, Namikawa Kamejirô, who opened his shop in [[1900]]. The nearby Nakandakari clothing shop (仲村渠呉服店) was one of comparatively few clothing stores run by Okinawans. Immediately east and south of the Yamagata-ya were the Aoyama Bookstore (青山本店), run by Aoyama Sôkichi, a man from Kagoshima who specialized in Okinawa-related books; the Meishidô (明視堂), run by Yamashita Tokuzô, which sold a wide variety of items, including eyeglasses, smoking pipes, cameras, and radios; and the Okinawa Book Company (沖縄書籍株式会社), famous for its headquarters, which was said to resemble a museum. Other notable shops included the Kasuri-ya, a [[Ryukyuan textiles]] tailor's run by Nakasone Sôon; a restaurant called Mannin-ya, opened in 1929 by Nakazato Seijun and specializing in [[Okinawa soba]], [[sushi]], ''[[donburi]]'', and Western-style dishes; a pharmacy known as Seiseidô yakubô (生盛堂薬房), run by Gushiken Tôru from [[Motobu]]; the Okinawa Products Display Hall (沖縄物産陳列館), selling various local products; the headquarters of the Ryukyu Textiles Union (琉球織物同業組合); and a major telephone exchange station (telephone service began on the island in 1910). Electric street cars ran from ''Ufujômee-dûi'' all the way to Shuri beginning in 1914, but were shut down in 1933 due to overwhelming competition from the city bus lines.<ref name=showanonaha>"Shôwa no Naha fukugen mokkei," pamphlet, Naha City Museum of History, 2014.</ref>

Some 90% of Naha City as a whole was destroyed in the October 10, 1944 Air Raid (十・十空襲); the city suffered further in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. Under the postwar American Occupation, the area immediately surrounding the former City Hall and ''Ufujômee-dûi'' was made off-limits to Japanese or Okinawan civilians, due to its proximity to the port facilities, then being actively used for military purposes. As a result, the areas of [[Tsuboya]] and Makishi, which had historically been on the outer edges of the city, now became the main center of activity. New government buildings, department stores, theatres, and the like were established along a new main avenue, called Kokusai-dôri, or "International Street," which remains the chief center of activity today.<ref name=showanonaha/>

Some 90% of Naha City as a whole was destroyed in the October 10, 1944 Air Raid (十・十空襲); the city suffered further in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. Under the postwar American Occupation, the area immediately surrounding the former City Hall and ''Ufujômee-dûi'' was made off-limits to Japanese or Okinawan civilians, due to its proximity to the port facilities, then being actively used for military purposes. As a result, the areas of [[Tsuboya]] and Makishi, which had historically been on the outer edges of the city, now became the main center of activity. New government buildings, department stores, theatres, and the like were established along a new main avenue, called Kokusai-dôri, or "International Street," which remains the chief center of activity today.<ref name=showanonaha/>