A Dragon

A close up view of one of the dragons dragons decorating the panel above The King's Chair. Lots of Chinese influence here. Isn't he fabulous!

Decorative Panel

This panel sat on the wall above the King's Chair that I showed you yesterday. Obviously saying something, but I have no idea what. The patterns in the frame and the dragons below are fabulous.

A Chair

How is this for a chair?   This chair was located in the the main shrine at the Shurijo Castle. It is believed to be throne upon which sat the King. Richly decorated in gold and Vermillian, it features many patterns that I could reproduce in my stitching somewhere. What about those  two dragons decorating the arms of this chair? Are they not fabulous!

Suimui-utaki

Suimui-utaki is a site of worship inside the Shurijo Castle grounds. Unfortunately my camera was still on those horrid green settings, but we can still see the decoration on this building. There are dragons on each end of the roof guarding it, and beautiful artwork over the front entranceway.

A Castle Gate

There are many gates around the Shurijo Castle, this is just one. As we can see, they are very different to those of the temples and shrines in Kyoto & Tokyo. They appear to be much simpler and less ornate than others we has seen.

Shurijo Castle Grounds

One of the buildings inside the Shurijo Castle grounds. The castle was originally built over 500 years ago, but was destroyed by fire in WW11 , and  restored in the 1980's. It has housed kings, government, and the Ryukyu University. Now it is one of Okiniwa's main tourist attractions.

Roof Patterns

Some more roof patterns now. If we look closely we will see that these roof patterns are different to those that we saw on the main islands of Japan. The roof style is still the same, but the patterns used for decoration are very different. I could definitely play with these & use them in my lace making and stitching

Okinawa Views

Some views of Okinawa now, taken from the walls of the Shurijo Castle.

Unfortunately my photos are still very green. I have yet to discover the camera setting had changed.

A Spring

Another one of my very green photos, this time showing the "Ryuhi", or water spring, situated half way up the steps leading to the gate of the Shurijo Castle. The water pours from the mouth of a dragon, which originally came from China way back in 1523. Water from this spring has been used to provide fresh drinking water not only to the castle, but to guest houses nearby.

A Stairway

This was the set of stairs that we had to climb to get into the Shurijo Castle grounds. The Castle is high up on a hill, overlooking Okinawa. surrounded by stone walls. Not much of a climb really, and besides, it was worth it to see some of the treasures inside.