Shurijo Castle, the symbol of Okinawa, was almost entirely destroyed by fire on Oct. 31, 2019. Although the castle’s stone walls survived, the wooden structures that were the castle's main buildings burned to the ground. The restoration work on the castle after its destruction in the war had been completed just in the 1990s.

Almost as soon as the smoke cleared up, the resolve to reconstruct the castle again rose locally and globally.

The groundbreaking ceremony of the castle’s main building, Seiden, was held on November 3, 2022. The work is now in full swing, with completion scheduled for the fall of 2026. The reconstruction site is open to the public, and visitors can view the progress of the work from a specifically constructed viewing deck. Currently, the lacquering work on the building is underway.

Shurijo Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2,000, once served as the royal palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom from the 15th to 19th century and is a unique blend of Chinese, Japanese, and indigenous Ryukyuan architecture.

Now is an excellent opportunity to observe the reconstruction of Shuri Castle using traditional building methods and materials, which can only be seen in practice now.

Shurijo Castle Park