The current Okinawa prefecture was formerly known as the Ryukyu Kingdom. The inhabitants of the Ryukyu islands were able to maintain their independence from the Chinese and Japanese empires during the Edo era. However, they were not very amiable between each other, during many years the Okinawa islands were divided in three kingdoms: Hokuzen (North Kingdom), Chuzan (Center Kingdom) and Nanzan (South Kingdom).
Each kingdom was controlled from one castle. Shuri castle in Naha (South Kingdom) and Nakijin castle (North Kingdom) were the most powerful castles. These are some photos of Nakijin castle I took in a sunny day. You can see the “gusuku” style stone walls, which are unique to Okinawa.
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