is a gate in the Shuri neighborhood of Naha, the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest cit ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. It is the second of

Shuri Castle was a Ryukyuan ''gusuku'' castle in Shuri, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Between 1429 and 1879, it was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, before becoming largely neglected. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed ...

's main gates.

Construction

It was first built in the 16th century, and the structure of the gate is similar to that of Chinese three-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a nar ...

turret gates, and is covered with a red tiled hip roof. The four

Hanzi Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

framed on the gate - ''Shu'', ''rei'', ''no'', and ''kuni'', which mean 'Land of Propriety' - were added to the gate long after it was built. It was also called and in the local dialect.綾門大道

Kadokawa Corporation , formerly is a Japanese media conglomerate that was created as a result of the merger of the original Kadokawa Corporation and Dwango Co., Ltd. on October 1, 2014. History The holding company known today as Kadokawa Corporation was origi ...

. Retrieved on 2014-05-09 The gate reflects strong Chinese influence, alongside indigenous religious traditions.

Reconstruction

The gate was destroyed in 1945 during the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

and reconstructed through local campaigns and support in the 1950s and 1960s. It became the first part of the Shuri Castle to be reconstructed, while decades would follow until the rest of the castle was restored. The main columns are 7.94 meters apart. The top layer of the gate is 7.05 meters high, and the lower layer 5.11 meters. The 4 pillars stand on foundation stones, and they are supported on front and back by slanting accessory pillars for better stability. A picture of the reconstructed gate appears on the

2000 yen note The is a denomination of Japanese yen, that was first issued on July 19, 2000 to commemorate the 26th G8 Summit and the millennium. The banknote is notable for not being a commemorative banknote under Japanese law, and circulates as a regular i ...

issued in 2000 to commemorate the

26th G8 summit The 26th G8 summit was held in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on July 21–23, 2000. Overview The Group of Seven ( G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Jap ...

held in Okinawa.

References

External links

* * Tourist attractions in Okinawa Prefecture Gates in Japan Buildings and structures in Okinawa Prefecture {{Japan-struct-stub