Hantamichi

• Other Names: 中頭方東海道 (nakagami hô tôkaidô)
• Japanese: ハンタ道 (hanta michi)

The Hanta-michi, also sometimes known as the Nakagami-hô Tôkaidô, was one of the main highways of the Ryûkyû Kingdom. Starting at Shuri, it stretched north and east up to Katsuren gusuku, running past and connecting up a number of other gusuku, including Kôchi gusuku, Arakaki gusuku, and Nakagusuku gusuku.

During the Gusuku Period (12th-15th c.), the road connected villages, sacred spaces, and gusuku, serving numerous valuable societal and economic (commercial) purposes, as well as connecting political centers, for purposes of contact and communication. During times of war, rival armies also traveled this road to reach the castles of their enemies.

The road was lined with pine trees, and varied in width, from roughly 1.2 meters at its narrowest, to about 2.7 meters at its widest.

References

• Plaque at Nakagusuku Lookout.[1]