Nakagusuku Castle

Timeline

1. Late 14th century

   Foundation by the Sachinakagusuku Aji

   Successive generations of the Sachinakagusuku Aji line built the South, West, First and Second Baileys, laying down the original four-enclosure layout.

2. 1440

   Gosamaru's expansion

   Under King Sho Taikyu, the commander Gosamaru Moriharu was moved from Zakimi Castle to Nakagusuku and added the Third and North Baileys in aikata-zumi interlocking masonry, completing the six-enclosure form.

3. 1458

   Death of Gosamaru

   Falsely accused of treason by Amawari of Katsuren Castle and attacked by royal troops from Shuri, Gosamaru refused to fight his sovereign and took his own life; Nakagusuku Castle fell.

4. 1609

   Satsuma invasion of Ryukyu

   After the Satsuma Domain's invasion of Ryukyu, Nakagusuku served as an administrative post and as a hiding place for Satsuma officials during visits by Qing Chinese envoys.

5. May 1853

   Perry Expedition visits the castle

   Commodore Matthew C. Perry and the U.S. East India Squadron toured the gusuku and praised its masonry in the published Narrative of the Expedition.

6. 1879

   Re-used as Nakagusuku Village Office

   After the abolition of the han system and the establishment of Okinawa Prefecture, the First Bailey was re-used as the village office of Nakagusuku and remained in service until the Pacific War.

7. 1945

   Damage in the Battle of Okinawa

   The main hall on the First Bailey was destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa, but the stone walls of the gusuku itself survived comparatively intact.

8. 1955

   Ryukyu Government designation

   Under U.S. military administration, the Ryukyu Government Cultural Properties Protection Commission designated Nakagusuku an Important Cultural Property as both Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty.

9. 1956

   Tomb of Gosamaru: Prefectural Site

   The Tomb of Gosamaru, 200 metres east of the castle, was designated an Okinawa Prefectural Historic Site separately from Nakagusuku Castle Site.

10. 15 May 1972

    Designated a National Historic Site

    On the day of Okinawa's reversion to Japan, the central government designated Nakagusuku a National Historic Site, with 110,473 square metres of legally protected land including a 14,473-square-metre castle core.

11. November 2000

    UNESCO World Heritage inscription

    Nakagusuku Castle Site was inscribed as one of nine components of the UNESCO World Heritage Site 'Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu.'

12. 6 April 2006

    Japan 100 Famous Castles No. 99

    The Japan Castle Foundation selected Nakagusuku as castle No. 99 of Japan's 100 Famous Castles.

13. 2013

    Okinawa flowers and greenery 100

    Nakagusuku was named one of 'Okinawa's 100 Beautiful Places of Flowers and Greenery' for its tsuwabuki blooms.

Detailed History

The earliest sections of Nakagusuku Castle date from the late 14th century, when generations of the Sachinakagusuku Aji line built the South, West, First and Second Baileys on the ridge above modern Nakagusuku and Kitanakagusuku. In 1440, during the reign of King Sho Taikyu, the celebrated commander Gosamaru Moriharu, formerly lord of Zakimi Castle in Yomitan, was moved to Nakagusuku and added the Third and North Baileys, completing the six-enclosure layout that survives today. The king's intent was to use Gosamaru's reputation, earned in the 1416 invasion of Hokuzan, to create a barrier between Shuri and the increasingly powerful Aji Amawari of Katsuren Castle. In 1458 Amawari accused Gosamaru of treason; royal troops were sent and Gosamaru, refusing to fight his sovereign, took his own life with his family, and the castle fell. Amawari himself was later exposed as a would-be usurper. After 1458 the gusuku was held as the residence of the Crown Prince of Nakagusuku, and from 1609, after the Satsuma Domain's invasion of Ryukyu, it served as an administrative post (bansho). During Edo-period investiture missions sent by Qing China, Satsuma officials would withdraw into Nakagusuku to remain hidden from the envoys and preserve the diplomatic fiction of Ryukyuan independence. After the establishment of Okinawa Prefecture in 1879, the First Bailey was reused as the Nakagusuku Village Office until the end of the Pacific War. In 1945 the village office hall was lost in the Battle of Okinawa, but the stone walls came through with little damage. In 1955, under U.S. military administration, the Ryukyu Government Cultural Properties Protection Commission designated Nakagusuku an Important Cultural Property as both Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty. On 15 May 1972, the day Okinawa was returned to Japan, the central government designated the castle a National Historic Site, protecting 110,473 square metres of land (of which 14,473 are the castle core). The Tomb of Gosamaru, about 200 metres east, was designated separately as an Okinawa Prefectural Historic Site in 1956 — a distinct heritage category, not part of the national designation. In November 2000 Nakagusuku was inscribed by UNESCO as a component of 'Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu,' and in 2006 it was selected as castle No. 99 of Japan's 100 Famous Castles.

Cultural Significance

Nakagusuku Castle Site is one of nine components of the UNESCO World Heritage Site 'Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu,' inscribed in 2000 with Shuri, Nakijin, Zakimi and Katsuren Castle Sites, Tamaudun, Sonohyan-utaki Ishimon, Shikinaen and Sefa-utaki. Five are gusuku castle sites; the rest are a royal mausoleum, a royal garden, and two utaki sacred sites, representing the architectural achievements of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Nakagusuku itself was designated a National Historic Site in 1972 (110,473 square metres) and selected in 2006 as castle No. 99 of Japan's 100 Famous Castles. The nearby Tomb of Gosamaru is designated separately as an Okinawa Prefectural Historic Site (1956), not part of the national designation — a distinction worth keeping in mind when reading on-site signage. When Commodore Matthew C. Perry's East India Squadron visited Okinawa in May 1853, the Narrative of the Expedition recorded that 'the material of which the fortifications were composed was limestone, and the masonry was commendable,' one of the first Western evaluations of Ryukyuan architecture. Under Satsuma overrule the castle also served as a hiding place for officials during Qing investiture missions to preserve the fiction of Ryukyuan independence. In 2013 the site was listed in 'Okinawa's 100 Beautiful Places of Flowers and Greenery' for its tsuwabuki.

Architectural Details

Nakagusuku is a connected-bailey (renkaku-shiki) mountain castle running along a ridge at about 160 metres above sea level, with six enclosures: South, West, First, Second, Third and North Baileys. The principal material throughout is cut Ryukyu limestone, and the site is unusual in preserving three masonry techniques side by side. The oldest South Bailey is built in nozura-zumi (rough stone laid as found), the First and Second Baileys are faced in nuno-zumi (tofu-zumi, squared blocks in horizontal courses), and the Third Bailey, North Bailey and observation platform — added during Gosamaru's expansion — are in aikata-zumi, a 'turtle-shell' interlocking style of polygonal stones fitted precisely without mortar. Two of the gates into the First Bailey, with the rear gate, are stone arches, among the earliest arched gateways in Okinawa. The First Bailey is the largest enclosure and once held the seiden and a kangetsu-dai observation pavilion where Gosamaru is said to have hosted banquets; later it housed the regional magistracy and the Nakagusuku Village Office. The West Bailey, 120 metres east to west, was used for cavalry training. In the North Bailey, Gosamaru enclosed an existing well inside the new wall, securing a water source for siege defence. The Kanja-gama blacksmith site within the walls shows Nakagusuku was a self-sufficient garrison able to produce its own arms.