Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
from City Hall to the castle site. By road, down from the heights of Okinawa City, through
the Awase district on Naka-gusuku Bay, past the sugar cane mill and over to Katsuren Castle,
it's about 6.75 miles (11 kilometers), and you've got a choice of a dozen different routes to get
there.
Katsuren is another UNESCO World Heritage Site and it's well deserved because the
castle was one of the most important in the Ryukyu kingdom. It's also one of the most scenic
to visit. Although it's not as grand as Nakagusuku, it's quite large nonetheless and its setting
is also most dramatic. From its apex on a bluff, it overlooks both sides of the Katsuren Penin-
sula, with Nakagusuku Bay on one side and Kin Bay on the other, both waters of the Pacific
Ocean. The castle's “golden age” was the mid-15th century under the powerful Lord (“Anji”)
Amawari. Though the date of his birth is not known, his death is recorded as 1458.
According to Okinawan legend, Amawari was born to a peasant family near Chatan. He
seized power by overthrowing the previous lord of Katsuren. “Overthrow” is quite literally
the word; it is said that Amawari threw his lord over the castle ramparts to his death. Through
maritime trade, he gained wealth and power and married Momotofumi Agari, daughter of
the Ryukyuan King Shō Taikyū (c. 1415-60), based at Shuri Castle.
Anxious about Amawari's growing power, the King Shō Taikyū arranged for a new castle
to be built at Nakagusuku and he placed it under the command of Lord Gosamaru. Nak-
agusuku is sited about midway between Katsuren and Shuri Castles. In 1458, Amawari ac-
cused Gosamaru of plotting to overthrow the king and led the royal armies on an attack
on Nakagusuku. It is said that out of loyalty to the king, Gosamaru refused to fight back
and killed himself rather than betray his benefactor. Subsequently, one theory holds that
Amawari plotted to overthrow the king, but his plan was discovered by his wife, the king's
daughter. Learning of the plot, the king attacked first and defeated Amawari who was
executed. An alternate theory holds that entire affair—the rivalry between Amawari and
Gosamaru—was in reality a plot by the royal government in order to remove the two of them,
since both were viewed as powerful rivals and potential threats to the royal succession. No
matter the historical truth, the tale of Gosamaru's suicide and Amawari's downfall is among
the most popular in Okinawan historical lore.
