Thursday, February 5, 2015

Shuri-jo, Naha Okinawa

One of our favorite places in Okinawa is Shuri Castle, which was the palace of the Ryukyu kingdom. It was destroyed in WWII, but rebuilt beginning in 1992 and is currently a UNESCO World Heritage site.  We visited several times on our last trip two years ago and loved the music and dance and history, so this trip we decided to buy an annual ticket that is good through the end of 2015.




 
On the first three days of the year, there are reenactment type ceremonies with the king and queen and court.







 
Inside the castle is a tea room that we visited twice.  Hot sanpin (jasmine) tea and sweets were served.

Several times a day there were music and dance performances and we watched several days multiple times. I loved seeing all the beautiful costumes, too.

 
 




 
We hope to be watching these wonderful performances again very soon!

5 comments:

D1-D2 said...

It looks like an amazing place to visit.

Anna van Schurman said...

I love the costumes too! Thanks for sharing your lovely pictures.

Janie said...

Wonderful heritage and lots of color. Wow!

Thoeria said...

The Japanese culture is so rich! Love the costumes and ceremony :)

Queeniepatch said...

I understand you want go go back for more!