Urasoe Castle is a Ryukyuan gusuku which served as the capital of the medieval Okinawan principality of Chūzan prior to the unification of the island into the Ryukyu Kingdom, and the moving of the capital to Shuri. In the 14th century, Urasoe was the largest castle on the island, but today only ruins remain. Continue reading... From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Urasoe Youdore, The Royal Tomb of the Ryukyu Chuzan King
Exploring Okinawa- Urasoe yōdore (浦添ようどれ or 浦添極楽山) is a mausoleum in Urasoe, Okinawa housing the remains of three rulers of the Ryukyu Islands, along with one king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom separated from the others by several centuries. The mausoleum is located in a cave on a cliff to the northeast of Urasoe Castle. The mausoleum was established in 1261, during the reign of Eiso, before Okinawa was divided into three kingdoms, when it was simply ruled by a network of local chieftains under the leadership of one head chieftain or king. Eiso and two of his successors are entombed at Urasoe yōdore, in sarcophagi of a Chinese diorite stone statues of the bodhisattvas Kannon and Jizō stand inside the cave. More than 300 years later, King Shō Nei requested to be buried at Urasoe and not in the Shō family royal mausoleum of Tamaudun. His reign had seen the invasion of Ryukyu by forces from Japan's Satsuma province, and the subjugation of the kingdom to Satsuma's suzerainty, and thus it is believed that he felt he had dishonored his family and his kingdom, and was not worthy of being buried with his ancestors.