Zakimi Castle

photo by Toshihiro Matsui · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Toshihiro Matsui · CC BY-SA 3.0

In the arch of the gateway there is a stone wedge that no other castle has.

It is the oldest stone arch still standing in Okinawa, and at its centre there is a wedge driven in to hold it together: a solution not found in the other gusuku (the stone castles of the Ryukyu kingdom), and one you see by looking up as you pass underneath. The circuit of the walls is 365 metres and the area inside is 7,385 square metres, which for the period meant a medium-sized castle. You can go in freely, at any hour, without a ticket.

It was built at the beginning of the fifteenth century by Gosamaru, lord of Yomitanzan, who knew a great deal about castles: the sources describe him as a builder before a warrior, and the date falls after the 1416 attack (some sources say 1422) on Nakijin Castle. Later Gosamaru moved to Nakagusuku, and there in 1458 he was attacked and destroyed by the lord of Katsuren. Zakimi, Nakagusuku and Katsuren are not just any three castles that happen to be close together: they are the three parts of the same story, and you visit them in the order in which they lived it.

ℹ️ Always accessible and free: the ruins stand in an open park and have no gates. ⚠️ The Yuntanza museum, which is right next door and holds the finds, has its own opening hours (9:00–18:00, last entry at 17:30) and is closed on WEDNESDAYS and from 28 December to 4 January: if you go on a Wednesday you will find the castle but not the museum. You can climb the walls, and at the top there is no railing.

🚉 座喜味 · 9 min walk

Sources: vill.yomitan.okinawa.jp · vill.yomitan.okinawa.jp · yomitan-kankou.jp · okinawastory.jp

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