Naha Travel Guide

On a hill above the southern sea in Itoman, Okinawa, the Peace Memorial Park honors those who died in the Battle of Okinawa and prays for peace. The 'Cornerstone of Peace' bears the names of over two hundred thousand war dead from many nations; the Peace Memorial Museum presents the battle's history and civilian suffering with quiet candor. Sea winds cross the green slope — a place of mourning and of learning.

Zakimi Castle stands on a 127-metre hill in Yomitan in central Okinawa, built in the early fifteenth century, in 1416 or 1422, by the noted castle builder Gosamaru, the Aji of Yomitan. It guarded the road from Chuzan to Hokuzan and served as a base for trade with China and southern countries before being abandoned around the sixteenth century. Two linked enclosures follow the terrain, and the coral-limestone walls run not in straight lines but in soft star-shaped curves, a style as defensive as it is elegant. The prized features are two arched stone gates, the oldest surviving arches in Okinawa, closed with wedge stones: the inner gate is a reconstruction while the outer one is largely the original repaired, with square keystones in one and triangular in the other, differences far clearer standing beneath them than in any photograph; pulling the wedge in wartime was said to bring the arch down and seal the passage. In 1944 the Japanese army used the site as an anti-aircraft position and after the war the US military turned it into a radar station, damaging parts of the walls; excavation and repair between 1973 and 1985 produced what visitors see today. In December 2000 it joined the Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of the Ryukyus on the World Heritage list and was designated a national historic site the same year. From the walls you can see Cape Zanpa and the Onna coast, and on clear days the Kerama Islands and towards Naha. Entry is free around the clock with free parking; bus 29 from Naha stops at Zakimi, followed by a ten-minute uphill walk.

Yogi Park is a city-planning park (approved 1956) east of the Yogi intersection on Route 330 in Naha. More than 400 Taiwan cherries line the riverside promenade, and the Naha Cherry Blossom Festival is held every early February, making it one of Okinawa's earliest hanami spots. One corner preserves the D51 steam locomotive 'Degoichi' — about 20 metres long and 90 tonnes, built at the Kokura works in 1938 and run for over thirty years on the Kagoshima and Nippo lines before JNR employees' donations brought it by ship to Naha in 1973 as a symbol of Okinawa's bond with the mainland on its return to Japan. Banyans and royal palms give the grounds a tropical air; a plaza and outdoor stage host events, and the Naha City Library stands next door — the city's everyday green.

The Naha City Tsuboya Pottery Museum sits in Naha's Tsuboya pottery district, a museum dedicated to Ryukyuan/Okinawan ceramics. Tsuboya has been the Ryukyu court-recognised pottery centre since the kingdom era; the museum clearly presents Tsuboya-yaki history, technique and master works, preserves the 'Kita-gama' kiln found in situ at construction, and screens old Tsuboya potters' lives in its theatre. Behind it, the 'Kitamiya' square displays the Yudomari hira-gama kiln excavated when the prefectural office was built — a window on Okinawan folk craft.

The Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters was hacked by hand with picks into a Tomigusuku hillside in 1944. In the final phase of the Battle of Okinawa it held as many as 4,000 naval personnel, and it was here that Vice Admiral Minoru Ota sent his celebrated farewell telegram. Some 450 metres of tunnel are open in their wartime state: the operations room, staff room, commander's room and medical room follow one another, with pick marks and shrapnel scars still on the walls, most heavily in the commander's room. Entry means 105 steps down to roughly 30 metres below ground; the tunnels are low and dim, a stark contrast to the bright park above. A peace museum on the surface displays objects and documents recovered from the tunnels, and the Kaigungou Park lookout above commands Naha and the East China Sea.

Shuri Castle is the former palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Okinawa, a vermilion palace blending unique Ryukyu style - heavy and unique. On a height in Naha, the political and cultural center of the Ryukyu Kingdom, a World Heritage site. Its unique architecture blends Chinese, Japanese and local elements - a vermilion main hall with dragon columns. The famous Shureimon gate appears on the yen note. (Note: the main hall was damaged by fire and is being rebuilt; visitors can see the grounds, some buildings and the reconstruction.)