31.8.2018 - Day 16

 

We started a bit late due to yesterdays late arrival. We went back to the prefecture offices and walked down the main shopping street. After lunch we took the monorail to the last station where we visited the Shurijo Castle Park, UNESCO location. The park is a reconstructed version of the original castle after it was destroyed, together with most of Ryuku’s kingdom heritage, in battle for Okinawa in World War II. As I later discovered by the castle the 32nd army, established in 1944 for defense of Okinawa, had dug their headquarters beneath the castle. The main castle hall is 70 centimeters higher then it used to be so the original remnants beneath it can be preserved.

The castle is a mix of Japanese and Chinese influences as Ryuku kingdom used to be a subsidiary of the Chinese empire. The main building is lacquered which means it needs to be restored regularly due to the strong tropical sun.

Speaking of the sun as usual we were baking, but it seemed to us to be more bearable this time due to the cloud coverage, wind and general tropic climate.

One big noticeable part of local architecture are guardian statues. Shisa guardians, as they are called, are suppose to ward of evil and are suppose to represent dragons, though they remind me more of tigers. Zelma absolutely adores them as they can be found in different positions, actions and face expressions.

Shurijo castle is also referred to as the dragon castle which was interesting to us as in the gardens we found large swarms of dragonflies. As the castle is on a mountain top you can observe most of Naha city from there and can even see to the other coast, not to mention other islands.

After the castle we visited Tamaudum, another UNESCO location, royal mausoleum. Damaged during the siege of Okinawa in World War II, it is now restored. The last funeral of royal family member took place in 1920 and as is tradition across Japan and in Okinawa it was cremation so inside the mausoleum are stored urns with the ashes. In the exhibition at the entrance it was possible to see how the chambers look inside as they are not open to public.

Walking through the castle park we went back to the monorail trying to reach a the Imperial Navy Headquarters museum, but were too, so we then returned to our shopping street where Zelma dragged me into two petting zoos. As much as I was excited to pet a capybara, owls and otters, I would have rather avoided those places as I was unhappy about the overall conditions. We found something to eat, followed by a desert at another place, we retired back to our place.

Seems like I can’t really operate as much as I would like in this heat.