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[[Image:Shureimon.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Shureimon (守礼門)]]

[[Image:Shureimon.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Shureimon (守礼門)]]

[[Image:Sonohyan utaki ishimon.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The stone gate to Sonohyan utaki (園比屋武御嶽石門)]]

[[Image:Sonohyan utaki ishimon.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The stone gate to Sonohyan utaki (園比屋武御嶽石門)]]

The symbolic entrance to the castle proper was the [[Shureimon]], originally constructed around [[1555]]<ref name=Turnbull44/>, which remains today one of the most famous symbols of Okinawa, and specifically of the kingdom and the castle. Architecturally patterned after a Chinese ''paifang'' gate, the Shureimon takes its name from the plaque installed upon it which declares Ryûkyû to be ''shurei no kuni'' (守禮之邦), often translated as "(a) Nation of Propriety."

The symbolic entrance to the castle proper was the [[Shureimon]], originally constructed around [[1555]]<ref name=Turnbull44/>, which remains today one of the most famous symbols of Okinawa, and specifically of the kingdom and the castle. Architecturally patterned after a Chinese ''paifang'' gate, the Shureimon takes its name from the plaque installed upon it which declares Ryûkyû to be ''shurei no kuni'' (守禮之邦), often translated as "(a) Nation of Propriety." This plaque was originally only displayed when [[Chinese investiture envoys]] were visiting the kingdom, but during the reign of King [[Sho Shitsu|Shô Shitsu]] (r. [[1648]]-[[1668]]), the plaque came to be hung at the gate permanently. Historian [[Mark McNally]] has suggested that the plaque was especially seen as a reminder that the kingdom should strive to aspire to being a "kingdom of propriety."<ref>[[Mark McNally]], presentation at "[http://www.hawaii.edu/asiaref/japan/event2013/Index.htm#symposium Interpreting Parades and Processions of Edo Japan]" symposium, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 11 Feb 2013.</ref>

Just within the gate can be found the stone gate to [[Sonohyan utaki]], a sacred space of the native Ryukyuan religion, where the king and others would often pray. The gate was constructed in [[1519]], upon the orders of King Shô Shin, by a stonemason from [[Taketomi Island]] named [[Nishito|Nishitô]].

Just within the gate can be found the stone gate to [[Sonohyan utaki]], a sacred space of the native Ryukyuan religion, where the king and others would often pray. The gate was constructed in [[1519]], upon the orders of King Shô Shin, by a stonemason from [[Taketomi Island]] named [[Nishito|Nishitô]].