Nakagusuku udun

The front hall (omote zashiki) of Nakagusuku udun, with the main gate in the background, in a 1920s photograph by Kamakura Yoshitarô

• Japanese: 中城御殿 (Nakagusuku udun)

Nakagusuku udun, or the Nakagusuku palace, was the mansion of the Crown Prince of the Ryûkyû Kingdom, located just outside Shuri castle, the royal palace.

Much as the British heir apparent is known as the Prince of Wales, in Ryûkyû the Crown Prince always held the magiri of Nakagusuku as his domain, and was known as Prince Nakagusuku, or Nakagusuku ôji. His mansion in Shuri was therefore known as the Nakagusuku Palace, or Nakagusuku udun - not to be confused with Nakagusuku castle, which stood in his domain.

Like the royal palace, the mansion of the Crown Prince faced south. The front areas of the mansion served as administrative spaces, while the Crown Prince's private quarters and other living spaces were further back. In the rear of the compound was the women's area of the house, an area known as the uchibaru. As in the uchibaru of Shuri castle, or the Ôoku of the shogun's palace, men were forbidden to enter this space, with the Crown Prince and a few others the only exceptions.

Following the fall of the Ryûkyû Kingdom, much of the kingdom's treasures were moved to Nakagusuku udun, where they were cared for by a team of stewards. During the Battle of Okinawa in April 1945, those stewards attempted to protect some of the most precious artifacts by hiding them in a drainage ditch just outside the mansion. Some of these objects, including perhaps the only extant historical manuscript copy of the Omoro sôshi, were taken by American soldiers; this copy of the Omoro sôshi was returned to Okinawa in 1953, but other objects from the mansion, including a royal investiture crown, have not been recovered, and are either still in a private collection, or were lost, destroyed along with the Nakagusuku palace itself in the 1945 battle.

References

• "Nachikasan Nakagusuku udun," exhibition flyer, Shuri Castle Park, 2012.