Your eyes may automatically be drawn to the gorgeous wall of the castle, but you should focus on the foot of the castle. Look at the stones that make up the base. Do you notice anything peculiar?
Half of the stones were actually reset after the war while the other half were set around 600 years ago. They may seem crude to look at, but these stones have taken in the wear and tear of the seasons for over 600 years.

Nakagusuku Castle fortress is said to be “one of the only remnants of the Ryukyu Kingdom that still exists.” This is due to a fortunate string of coincidences. The first of which is after the incident with Gosamaru, it became the residence of the prince of the Ryukyu Kingdom. As the kingdom reached a period of peace, its use as a castle fortress was no longer necessary. Most of the fortresses were abandoned, but Nakagusuku continued to be in use.

Secondly, when the Ryukyu Kingdom became a territory of what is now Kagoshima prefecture, all of the important people who lived in the different castles around Okinawa were forced to move back to Shuri. This also happened to the prince living in Nakagusuku; he was forced to live in the “Nakagusuku Chambers” inside of Shuri castle. However, Nakagusuku’s use as a “city hall” began after the prince’s departure. Have you seen the Banyan trees around the island? Were this structure to be left alone for ten years, the roots of the trees would grow into the stone and the structure would fall apart before you know it. Nakagusuku, however, was lucky to have remained occupied and taken care of without any major gaps.

The third and last coincidence was that it narrowly avoided being used as a battle fortress during WWII. Shuri castle was used as the base for the Japanese army during the war, and as a result was thoroughly destroyed. However, Nakagusuku wasn’t used as a battleground and avoided any serious artillery damage. Thanks to this, over 70% of the original structure has been preserved.

Looking at the grounds it may appear to be messy and falling apart at places, but that isn’t the case. There is no need to reconstruct everything. There is a reason why this is “the only remnant of the Ryukyu Kingdom” and still exists to this day.