Shuri castle

• Type:　Gusuku
• Founder: Satto?
• Year: 1350?
• Destroyed: 1945
• Reconstructed: 1992
• Location: Shuri, Okinawa
• Japanese/Okinawan:首里城(Shuri-jou / Sui gusuku)

Shuri castle was the chief royal palace of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû, serving as the chief royal residence, political center of the kingdom, site of numerous rituals and ceremonies, and repository of numerous national heirlooms, official records and other artifacts.

Rebuilt beginning in 1992, following its destruction in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, the castle grounds are now the nationally-funded "Shuri Castle Park". Along with a number of other gusuku and related sites across the island, Shuri Castle was designated a World Heritage Site in 2000.

History

It is not clear whether the castle was built during the reign of Satto, king of Chûzan (r. c. 1355-1395), but it was definitely built by the time of the reign of Shô Hashi (r. 1422-1439), first king of the united Kingdom of Ryûkyû.

The reign of Shô Shin (r. 1477-1526) saw considerable renovation and expansion of the castle, including the construction or expansion of the outer ring of stone walls.

The castle was destroyed by fire at least four times in its history, most recently by Allied bombing in World War II; reconstruction began in 1992.

Records from the time indicate that when the castle was rebuilt in 1672, following a 1660 fire, the roofs were tiled where they had been previously covered in wooden shingles, as a precautionary measure towards better fire-proofing. Archaeological excavations, however, have found both Korean and Japanese roof tiles dating to before this fire, indicating that at least some sections of the castle bore tiled roofs much earlier.

Layout

The castle grounds cover roughly 46,000 square meters, extending roughly 400 meters from east to west, and 270 meters from north to south. The compound includes four gates in the outer wall, and eight gates in the inner complex.

Just beyond the castle walls could be found the Buddhist temple Engaku-ji and the Ryûtan and Enkan ponds which were constructed for the leisure and recreation of visiting Chinese investiture envoys.

Shureimon

The symbolic entrance to the castle proper was the Shureimon, which remains today one of the most famous symbols of Okinawa, and specifically of the kingdom and the castle.

Just within the gate can be found the stone gate to Sonohyan utaki, a sacred space of the native Ryukyuan religion, where the king and others would often pray. The gate was constructed in 1519, upon the orders of King Shô Shin, by a stonemason named Nishitô, from Taketomi Island.

Gates

Beyond the symbolic Shureimon, the main gate granting entry through the first set of walls of the compound is the Kankaimon, flanked by two stone shisa (lion dogs). Like most of the gates in the walls of Shuri Castle, the Kankaimon consists of a gap in the stone wall, with a wooden structure atop it, with a flared tiled roof.

A short distance down the wall from the Kankaimon is the Kyûkeimon, the women's gate, which is elevated somewhat, and reached by a short staircase.

Upon entering the Kankaimon or Kyûkeimon, a visitor, official, or royal would next ascend a set of stairs flanked by seven stone tablets of investiture, representing prior kings and the authority of the Throne. Even the king himself would dismount here and bow before proceeding further into the complex.

These stairs lead to the Zuisenmon, a red-painted wooden structure perched atop a gap in the stone wall. Zuisen means, essentially, "spring of beauty/purity/youth and good fortune."

The path into the castle is never straight, the gates often situated at right angles to one another, in theory slowing an invading army and leaving attackers quite open to fire from defenders, stationed in the wooden gate structures and armed with Chinese-style firearms or bows & arrows. Stephen Turnbull notes, however, that the gates, and castle walls in general, lacked loopholes or other defensive features for defenders to hide behind. All in all, when the castle was invaded by Satsuma samurai in 1609, it fell quite quickly.

The next gate after the Zuisenmon is the Rôkokumon, or "Water Clock Gate", the final stone gate, which leads to a small plaza where a replica of the famous Bridge of Nations Bell is today kept inside a small structure called the Tomoya.

Shicha-nu-Unâ

The Kôfukumon, a large, vermillion wooden structure, leads finally into the shicha-nu-unâ, an area equivalent to what would be called the second bailey in English or ni-no-maru in a Japanese castle.

The shicha-nu-unâ contains the　"Shuri forest utaki", or Suimui utaki, a sacred grove surrounded by its own low stone walls.

Another large, vermillion wooden gate, the Hôshinmon, leads into the central bailey, or unâ (J: honmaru).

Unâ

The Unâ is a square, open plaza, bounded by the Hôshinmon on one side, the Seiden, the chief royal residence, facing it, and the Hokuden and Nanden on the remaining two sides. The plaza itself was the site of many important rituals and ceremonies, including New Year's ceremonies, and the formal investiture of each king, for which a symbolic model of the Chinese Imperial Court throne room would be constructed on the plaza.

The Nanden, or "South Hall," on one size of the plaza, is a Japanese-style structure which housed Satsuma officials; the Hokuden, or "North Hall," facing it across the plaza, is a more Chinese-style structure, which housed visiting Chinese officials. Both also housed some of the chief administrative offices of the royal government.

Seiden

The chief royal residence, or Seiden, the building at the heart of Shuri castle, faces and overlooks the unâ. The largest wooden building in the Ryûkyû Kingdom, it was lavishly painted and otherwise decorated in vermillion and gold, with intricate carvings and other embellishments painted in bold colors. Its construction incorporates Chinese, Japanese, and native Okinawan architectural elements, including among many other features a Japanese karahafu gabled arch over the entrance, and Chinese-style two-tiered roof modeled upon that of the Chinese Imperial Palace.

Two stone dragon pillars flank the central stair of the Seiden; these, like just about everything on the grounds today, are reconstructions, though pieces of the pre-1945 pillars are now housed at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum. A series of sliding doors at the center of the front of the building opened directly onto the main audience chamber, above which (on the second floor) was the throne room; the two were connected by a narrow staircase, allowing the king, queen, and other top-ranking royals and officials to make their appearance traveling directly from the throne room to the audience chamber.

The throne room itself was decorated lavishly in gold and vermillion, as the entire Seiden was, inside and out. Two dragon pillars, painted gold, flank the throne, a Chinese-style chair elaborately carved and painted gold and vermillion as well. Plaques given as gifts to the king by Chinese Emperors, bearing inscriptions of the Emperors' own calligraphy, adorn the throne room.

References

• Inoue, Munekazu. Nihon no Meijô (日本の名城, "Famous Castles of Japan"). Yuzankaku Publishing, 1992.
• "Shuri-jô." Okinawa konpakuto jiten (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). Ryukyu Shimpo. 1 March 2003. Accessed 16 January 2010.

Official Site

• Shuri castle park