South and Shuri jo

The New Year weekend we went to the Shuri Castle. The castle is the only one that was rebuilt because it was destroyed to ashes during the war. The Shuri castle was the palace and capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It had burned down several times during the era but according to records was rebuilt each time. During the war it was almost all destroyed except a few walls. During the war the Japanese military set up its headquarters underground at the castle. They rebuilt the castle for a 20 year aniversery of the war.

When we got to the top, or the main area, they were having dancers that were performing a variety of dances. Since it was the New Year weekend they were having special ceremonies. The day before we missed the traditional New Years celebration reinactment that took place inside the main area of the castle. It cost money to go into the main area, but we went inside and it was exactly like what you seen in the movies. We then were ushered into a museum, where we had to take our shoes off. That part was my favorite because I think I enjoyed the museum a little more since it seemed more relaxing to go through in your socks. We followed the route through which led us through the museum, through a traditional area of where the princes lived, through the castle, and last but not least a gift store. When you go on tours that have a designated 'route' you always end up in a gift store.

They had a spring there with a dragon head, this was part of the original castle that didn't get destroyed. Also, they had a bell that was saved, they had a replica there but we did end up seeing the actual one when we went to the Prefectural Museum. The view from the tops of the castle was amazing. You can see for miles, no wonder why they placed them on top of hills. The whole area was amazing and very interesting in the history behind it.

The next day we wanted to do some more tidal pools, so we tried heading down south to see if there was anything that we could go walk around in. By the time we made it down to the area the tide was coming back in and we weren't able to. Instead we just walked on the beach and looked for treasures. We saw a lot of kite surfers in this one area so we ventured over to the beach they were at and watched them. I discovered that this is something that I want to try some day. It looks really fun, however, it also looks like you need a lot of strength and with my luck I would probably be lifted up from the strong winds. This wasn't the first time we had seen kite surfers. There are a lot of them in the area because it does get windy occasionally, but there isn't a lot of waves around for surfers since the reef breaks them farther out, and if you are dedicated surfer you would have to follow the waves around the island because it changes.




Pictures:
*Shuri Castle main area, the rebuilt castle
*Traditional Dancers
*Dragon spring spout
*Sun Dial, how they told time and then rang the bell to let everyone know
*View from one the top
*Kite Surfers
*Beach down south