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| Fukushuen Gardens…..a nice place to end our day in Naha |
The equivalent to “states” in Japan are called Perfectures. Naha is located on the island of Okinawa and is the capital city of the Okinawa Perfecture. The city itself has a population of just over 300,000. It was in Naha that the martial arts style known as karate was developed in the 17th century.
Our arrival time into Naha was 7:00 AM with a “back on board” time of 6:30 PM. This gave us plenty of time to explore, and with a little help from the visitor information staff we were off.
Naha was an easy city to navigate. There is a single line monorail system that weaved its way around in such a way that there were stations near all the recommended sites. It was an easy 20 minute walk from the ship to the monorail station and off we went.
Our first destination was Shuri Castle (station 15 on the monorail line). The castle, which was built in the 14th century sits high up on a hilltop overlooking the city and harbor. It was obvious that the original construction was a massive undertaking for its time. There was evidence of water collection and storage, a sewer system (pretty important even way back then) and a sundial for timekeeping. Unfortunately the last 75 years or so haven’t been too kind to the castle. Most of the original structures were destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. Replica buildings that were built after the war were destroyed by a fire in 2019. Undeterred, a major reconstruction project is going on now. There were areas where we could get a “sneak peak” at the project and it looks like it’s going to be quite impressive.
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| Shuri Castle Gate |
Near the castle is the Shikinaen Royal Gardens. The gardens were constructed around the year 1800 as a villa for the royal family and their guests. Like the Shuri Castle, it was destroyed during World War II. A restoration project was started in 1975 that took close to 20 years to complete. In 2000 the gardens were registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| A few photos from the Shikinean Royal Gardens |
As we often do, much of our exploring was on foot. We enjoyed the 3.5 mile walk from the gardens back to the ship. Along the way we walked down Kokusaidori, Naha’s famous international shopping street, which was buzzing with a mix of locals and tourists looking for bargains.
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Along the Kokusaidori street. Our experience everywhere was that drivers were courteous to both pedestrians and other drivers
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Between the busy shopping street and the ship we made a detour to check out the Fukushen Garden. Not only were the gardens nice, but there was a cafe attached to the gardens. Knowing the ship was only 10 minutes away, we took our time at the cafe, enjoying a tropical drink, steamed dumplings and chatting with a nice couple from Australia who are on the ship with us.
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| Stopped him in his tracks! |
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| Fukushuen Garden |
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| A relaxing end to a great day! |
