Urasoe Yodore and the castle ruins

photo by Ken FUNAKOSHI from Yokohama, Japan · CC BY-SA 2.0

photo by ​ あばさー · Public domain

Capital for two centuries before Shuri, and on the reverse slope the bunkers are still there.

The name means evening calm. It consists of two chambers formed in natural caves and closed off with masonry, at the end of a limestone ridge at a hundred and thirty metres: the western one holds King Eiso, the eastern one King Shō Nei, who had it rebuilt in 1620. The same hill, the Maeda, was called Hacksaw Ridge by the Americans: on the opposite slope the caves and bunkers of the battle remain, almost all fenced off with mesh, and a bilingual sign marks Desmond Doss's spot.

Urasoe Castle was the residence of the rulers of the Shunten, Eiso and Satto dynasties for more than two centuries, from the thirteenth century, before power moved to Shuri. The ようどれ is the royal mausoleum cut into the side of the ridge. Everything was destroyed in the battle of April–May 1945, which was fought here for weeks and ended on 6 May; the excavations date from 1982–83 and the restoration was completed in April 2005. It has been a National Historic Site since 11 August 1989.

ℹ️ The site is outdoors, inside Urasoe Park, and there is no charge. The Urasoe Gusuku Yodore-kan museum is open 9:00–17:00, closed on Mondays and from 28 December to 3 January: one hundred yen from high school age up, fifty for elementary and junior high school pupils. ⚠️ It is a ridge with flights of steps and changes in level, and you cannot reach the mausoleum in a wheelchair. Fifteen minutes' walk from Urasoe-Maeda Station on the monorail. There are three car parks in the area.

🚉 Urasoe-Maeda · 10 min walk

Sources: city.urasoe.lg.jp · okinawa.stripes.com

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