Uchakuya

• Japanese/Okinawan: 御客屋 (o kyaku ya / u chaku ya)

The Uchakuya (lit. "Guest House") was an office maintained by Satsuma han and located just outside Shuri castle, in the royal capital of the Ryûkyû Kingdom. The office was used by the zaiban bugyô (Satsuma's representative in the kingdom) and his men to prepare for visits to the castle.

It is unclear when the uchakuya was first built, but it covered a space some 451 tsubo in size, located along Aijô-ufumichi (Aijô Boulevard), between the castle's outermost gate (the Chûzanmon) and the Buddhist temple of Ankokuzen-ji.

Following the fall of the kingdom in 1879, the Shuri police station was established on the site. An elementary school was then established on the site in 1890, but was later moved within the castle grounds, leaving the Uchakuya site to become the property of a private electrical company.

References

• Plaques on-site at former site of the Uchakuya.