A walk through Okinawa’s Itokazu Castle Ruins

Itokazu Castle Ruin (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)

My first stop was at the Itokazu Castle Ruins. Although this site may be relatively low-profile if you compare it to the Nakagusuku Castle Ruins or Katsuren Castle Ruins, Itokazu is also impressive. Located at an altitude of 180 meters (591 feet), which is the highest among all the castle ruins in the southern part of the island, it also boasts a dimension of 49,806 square meters.

Itokazu is believed to have been built in the early 14th century with the purpose of defending Tamagusku Castle, which is located nearby. Attesting to its capabilities as a stronghold for defense, a high stonewall as high as 6 meters (approx. 20 feet) runs north to south.

The best way to access this site is via a parking lot on the side of Gusuku Road, a paved way that connects it to Tamagusuku Castle Ruins. When you walk toward the castle ruins, you will run into a couple of historic sites along the way such as Kurayashikiato, a site where locals lived, or Neishi Gusuku, a site to worship god, which had temporarily functioned as a castle until Itokazu Castle was completed. After a 5-minute walk through a forest, huge stonewalls will appear behind the woods.