Shuri

• Japanese/Okinawan: 首里 (Shuri / Sui)

Shuri was the royal capital of the Ryûkyû Kingdom, and of its predecessor, the kingdom of Chûzan. It was absorbed in the modern period into the neighboring port city of Naha, and is thus today a neighborhood of the prefectural capital of Okinawa.

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 bugyô, a representative of Satsuma han. The grounds of the castle, along with Sonohyan utaki (a sacred site at the castle), Shikinaen, and Tamaudun, were named UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2000, as part of a group called "Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu."

A cobblestone road constructed in 1522 under King Shô Shin led south from the castle towards the royal family's mansion at Shikinaen, eventually looping around to Naha Port. One section of that road survives today, and is known as the Shuri Kinjô stone-paved road.

History

The city was considerably expanded as King Shô Shin consolidated power into the capital in the 1520s. In 1526, he obliged the anji (local lords) to take up residence within the capital; by removing them from their lands, Shô Shin strengthened the royal government's control over them, and over their lands, much as the Tokugawa shogunate would do a century later in mainland Japan with the sankin kôtai system, and by obliging all samurai in the domains (with some exceptions) to live in the castle-towns, under the watchful eyes of their respective daimyô.

Many of the famous sites in Shuri today, as a result, date originally to the reign of King Shô Shin in the 16th century. The Benten Hall and its attached Tennyo Bridge at Ryûtan Pond were completed in 1502, the cobblestone road to the south in 1522, and XXX.

The city was home to one of Ryûkyû's four groups of scholar-aristocrat lineages; the other three derived from Naha, Kumemura, and Tomari.

The city, and the castle, fell to samurai invaders from Satsuma han in 1609/4. Following the invasion, the Ryukyuan government, bureaucracy, and society were left intact, and King 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.