Husband had a 5-day weekend and after spending his Sunday at home while i was out with the girls he decided that on Monday we were going to go out and explore one of the sights we’ve been dying to check out; the Shurijo Castle Park. Thankfully we were blessed with some warm and sunny days this weekend, which meant it was perfect for exploring!
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The Shurijo Castle was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom over a period of approximately 500 years. The Ryukyu Kingdrom was an independent kingdom which ruled over the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th century to the 19th century. The island of Okinawa, the Amami Islands and the Sakishima Islands were all part of this Kingdom. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed. In 1992, it was reconstructed on the original site.
These are the Shisa, the guardian dogs, that you will see everywhere in Okinawa and mainland Japan, they are believed to protect from some evils. They typically come in pairs the left shisa has a closed mouth to keep good spirits in and the right one has an open mouth to ward off evil spirits.
After the first part of the tour you can chose to continue on or stop at the Sasunoma room where the Princes and his guest would have informal talks. They serve jasmine tea and Ryukyo sweets for only ¥300, which is roughly $3.00, we decided to try it out and i’m so glad we did. The tea and sweets were so delicious!
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| Sonohyan Utaki Shrine |
After spending an hour or so at the Castle Park we decided to drive back, walk along the Sunabe SeaWall and eat dinner at a restaurant close by. Let me be honest, it was the most delicious meal i’ve ever eaten off base. 🙂
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After a full day of exploring we had some friends over and we play some board games. President’s Day was definitely a fun filled day. How did you spend your long weekend?! Leave me a comment below!
xoxo