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.
During the time of the kingdom, the city was home to one of Ryûkyû's four groups of scholar-aristocrat lineages; the other three derived from Naha, Kumemura, and Tomari.
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.[1] 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."
King Shô Shin constructed a cobblestone road network known as Pearl Road (shinju michi) in 1522, connecting Shuri and a series of fortresses built to defend the city. One section of that road, known as the Shuri Kinjô stone-paved road, survives today a short distance south of the castle.[2]
History
The castle may have been built as early as the 1230s,[3] or sometime in the 1350s-1390s according to most sources, but it was certainly in place, in any case, by 1427, just before the unification of Okinawa & establishment of the Ryûkyû Kingdom under King Shô Hashi.
The city was considerably expanded as King Shô Shin (r. 1477-1526) consolidated power into the capital, as well as under his successor, Shô Sei (1527-1555). Engaku-ji, the chief family temple of the Shô Dynasty, was established in 1492. The royal mausoleum at Tamaudun was completed in 1501,[4] the Benten Hall and its attached Tennyo Bridge at Ryûtan Pond were built the following year, and the cobblestone road to the south in 1522.
In 1526, Shô Shin 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. Anji residences were organized within the city according to the geographical location of their fiefs, with different neighborhoods being populated by the lords of magiri in northern, central, and southern Okinawa.
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.
Shuri suffered fires in 1660, 1690, 1709,[5] and 1730, but then survived without such disasters for over 200 years, until its destruction along with much of the rest of the island in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa.
