Shimashi Ozato Castle

Shimashi-Ozato Castle is around an 8-minute walk from the Nishihara Iriguchi bus stop after getting there by a mini-bus. They run from Nanjo City Hall roughly once every two hours. This castle ruin is quite extensive with lots of sacred shrines in and around the castle ruin. When I visited, there we

History

According to the Chuzanseifu(中山世譜), Shimashi-Ozato Castle was founded by the Shimashi-Ozato Aji(Lord) in the 14th century.

In 1402, Sho Hashi, the lord of Sashiki Castle, conquered Shimashi-Ozato Castle. After Sho Hashi conquered the three “Sanzan Kingdoms” and unified them to form the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1429, the Seiden (main palace) at Shimashi-Ozato Castle became an outlying imperial palace. Shimashi-Ozato Castle’s Seiden was the second biggest palace in the Ryukyu Kingdom after Shuri Castle’s Seiden.

Archaeological investigation in 1991 found pottery, coins, and other artefacts dating to the 14th to 16th century at the castle ruin and former castle town.

Field Notes

Shimashi-Ozato Castle is around an 8-minute walk from the Nishihara Iriguchi bus stop after getting there by a mini-bus. They run from Nanjo City Hall roughly once every two hours. This castle ruin is quite extensive with lots of sacred shrines in and around the castle ruin. When I visited, there were some other people visiting the castle ruin just for the shrines.

All the photos uploaded with this profile were taken in early May 2022.

RaymondW wrote this castle profile and contributed all the photos.

Loading map...

{"format":"leaflet","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"limit":500,"offset":0,"link":"all","sort":["order"],"order":[],"headers":"show","mainlabel":"","intro":"","outro":"","searchlabel":"... further results","default":"","import-annotation":false,"width":"auto","height":"350px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"Darkred18.png","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"zoom":false,"defzoom":14,"layers":["Esri.WorldTopoMap"],"image layers":[],"overlays":[],"resizable":false,"fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":true,"cluster":false,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clustermaxradius":80,"clusterspiderfy":true,"geojson":"","clicktarget":"","showtitle":false,"hidenamespace":true,"template":"InfoWindowProfile","userparam":"","activeicon":"","pagelabel":false,"ajaxcoordproperty":"","ajaxquery":"","locations":[{"text":"\u003Cdiv style=\"width:150px\"\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/view/File:Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_1.jpg\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Shimashi-Ozato Castle Ray 1.jpg\" src=\"../images/thumb/9/9d/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_1.jpg/125px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_1.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"125\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"../images/thumb/9/9d/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_1.jpg/188px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_1.jpg 1.5x, ../images/thumb/9/9d/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_1.jpg/250px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_1.jpg 2x\" data-file-width=\"1500\" data-file-height=\"1125\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003C!--MW-PAGEIMAGES-CANDIDATE-0--\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E","title":"","link":"","lat":26.18588,"lon":127.76055,"icon":"../images/0/06/Darkred18.png"},{"text":"\u003Cdiv style=\"width:150px\"\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/view/File:Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_2.jpg\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Shimashi-Ozato Castle Ray 2.jpg\" src=\"../images/thumb/5/5c/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_2.jpg/125px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_2.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"125\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"../images/thumb/5/5c/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_2.jpg/188px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_2.jpg 1.5x, ../images/thumb/5/5c/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_2.jpg/250px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_2.jpg 2x\" data-file-width=\"1500\" data-file-height=\"1125\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003C!--MW-PAGEIMAGES-CANDIDATE-1--\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E","title":"","link":"","lat":26.18626,"lon":127.76073,"icon":"../images/0/06/Darkred18.png"},{"text":"\u003Cdiv style=\"width:150px\"\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/view/File:Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_3.jpg\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Shimashi-Ozato Castle Ray 3.jpg\" src=\"../images/thumb/3/30/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_3.jpg/125px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_3.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"125\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"../images/thumb/3/30/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_3.jpg/188px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_3.jpg 1.5x, ../images/thumb/3/30/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_3.jpg/250px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_3.jpg 2x\" data-file-width=\"1500\" data-file-height=\"1125\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003C!--MW-PAGEIMAGES-CANDIDATE-2--\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E","title":"","link":"","lat":26.18625,"lon":127.76067,"icon":"../images/0/06/Darkred18.png"},{"text":"\u003Cdiv style=\"width:150px\"\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/view/File:Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_4.jpg\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Shimashi-Ozato Castle Ray 4.jpg\" src=\"../images/thumb/4/4a/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_4.jpg/125px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_4.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"125\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"../images/thumb/4/4a/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_4.jpg/188px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_4.jpg 1.5x, ../images/thumb/4/4a/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_4.jpg/250px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_4.jpg 2x\" data-file-width=\"1500\" data-file-height=\"1125\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003C!--MW-PAGEIMAGES-CANDIDATE-3--\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E","title":"","link":"","lat":26.18637,"lon":127.76052,"icon":"../images/0/06/Darkred18.png"},{"text":"\u003Cdiv style=\"width:150px\"\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/view/File:Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_5.jpg\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Shimashi-Ozato Castle Ray 5.jpg\" src=\"../images/thumb/4/43/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_5.jpg/125px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_5.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"125\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"../images/thumb/4/43/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_5.jpg/188px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_5.jpg 1.5x, ../images/thumb/4/43/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_5.jpg/250px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_5.jpg 2x\" data-file-width=\"1500\" data-file-height=\"1125\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003C!--MW-PAGEIMAGES-CANDIDATE-4--\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E","title":"","link":"","lat":26.18643,"lon":127.75993,"icon":"../images/0/06/Darkred18.png"},{"text":"\u003Cdiv style=\"width:150px\"\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/view/File:Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_6.jpg\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Shimashi-Ozato Castle Ray 6.jpg\" src=\"../images/thumb/e/e6/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_6.jpg/125px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_6.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"125\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"../images/thumb/e/e6/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_6.jpg/188px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_6.jpg 1.5x, ../images/thumb/e/e6/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_6.jpg/250px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_6.jpg 2x\" data-file-width=\"1500\" data-file-height=\"1125\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003C!--MW-PAGEIMAGES-CANDIDATE-5--\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E","title":"","link":"","lat":26.18545,"lon":127.75961,"icon":"../images/0/06/Darkred18.png"},{"text":"\u003Cdiv style=\"width:150px\"\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/view/File:Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_7.jpg\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Shimashi-Ozato Castle Ray 7.jpg\" src=\"../images/thumb/8/80/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_7.jpg/125px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_7.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"125\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"../images/thumb/8/80/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_7.jpg/188px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_7.jpg 1.5x, ../images/thumb/8/80/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_7.jpg/250px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_7.jpg 2x\" data-file-width=\"1500\" data-file-height=\"1125\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003C!--MW-PAGEIMAGES-CANDIDATE-6--\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E","title":"","link":"","lat":26.18585,"lon":127.76002,"icon":"../images/0/06/Darkred18.png"},{"text":"\u003Cdiv style=\"width:150px\"\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/view/File:Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_8.jpg\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Shimashi-Ozato Castle Ray 8.jpg\" src=\"../images/thumb/2/21/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_8.jpg/125px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_8.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"125\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"../images/thumb/2/21/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_8.jpg/188px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_8.jpg 1.5x, ../images/thumb/2/21/Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_8.jpg/250px-Shimashi-Ozato_Castle_Ray_8.jpg 2x\" data-file-width=\"1500\" data-file-height=\"1125\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003C!--MW-PAGEIMAGES-CANDIDATE-7--\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E","title":"","link":"","lat":26.18551,"lon":127.76047,"icon":"../images/0/06/Darkred18.png"}],"imageLayers":[]}

Gallery

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Castle Profile
English Name	Shimashi Ozato Castle
Japanese Name	島添大里城
Founder	Shimashi-Ozato Aji
Year Founded	14th century
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	National Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	stone walls
Visitor Information
Access	Bus
Hours	Free
Time Required	1 to 1.5 hours
URL	Castle Website
Location	Nanjo City, Okinawa Prefecture
Coordinates	26.18653, 127.76001
Loading map... {"minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"mappingservice":"leaflet","width":"auto","height":"200px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"Castlemarker.png","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"zoom":6,"defzoom":14,"layers":["CartoDB.Positron"],"image layers":[],"overlays":[],"resizable":false,"fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":true,"cluster":false,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clustermaxradius":80,"clusterspiderfy":true,"geojson":"","clicktarget":"","imageLayers":[],"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":26.18653,"lon":127.76001,"icon":"../images/1/1e/Castlemarker.png"}],"imageoverlays":null}
Admin
Added to Jcastle	2023
Contributor	RaymondW
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed

4.00

(one vote)

Loading comments...