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Ryukyuan architecture (view source)
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==Okinawan Stonework==
[[File:SogenjiIshimon.JPG|right|thumb|320px|The stone gates of [[Sogen-ji|Sôgen-ji]], built using ''nuno-zumi'' stonework]]
Okinawan architecture uses stonework extensively, in the walls of residential compounds, the walls of castles (''[[gusuku]]''), and stone bridges. While the styles of stacking stones are similar to those used in Japan, Okinawan stonework most often uses the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryukyus']] distinctive white limestone, resulting in an aesthetic rather different from that in mainland Japan. There are three main types of stonework in Okinawan architecture: ''nozura-zumi'' (野面積み), ''aikata-zumi'', and ''nuno-zumi'' (布積み).<ref name=mawashi>"Mawashi ma~i" 真和志ま～い. Pamphlet. Naha City Board of Education Cultural Properties Division 那覇市教育委員会文化財課, 1989.</ref>
''Nozura-zumi'' ("rough surface stacking") is the oldest of the three styles of stonework, and simply involves stacking stones of various sizes and shapes so that it is functional as a wall or structure, but without attention to aesthetic pattern or order. ''Aikata-zumi'' ("matching form stacking") involves carving the stones so that they fit more nicely together; this usually involves stones being carved into hexagons or octagons, such that when they are stacked, even if one is removed, the rest hold one another up. Finally, in ''nuno-zumi'' ("cloth stacking"), stones are carved into rectangular shapes and stacked; this form is aesthetically attractive, but has the disadvantage that when one stone is removed, there is the risk of the entire section falling apart.<ref name=mawashi/>
Castle gates, stone bridges, and certain other structures made extensive use of arches. These Okinawan arches differ from European architectural styles in one key way - namely, that where Western-style arches use a series of long stones arranged perpendicular to the arch, Okinawan structures place the long stones parallel to the curve.<ref name=mawashi/>
==Vernacular Homes==
==Vernacular Homes==