is a Ryukyuan ''
gusuku'' in
Uruma, Okinawa
is a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The modern city of Uruma was established on April 1, 2005, when the cities of Gushikawa and Ishikawa were merged with the towns of Katsuren and Yonashiro (both from Nakagami District). As of M ...
. It sits on a cliff that separates Iha from
Ishikawa, with a grand view of the
Ishikawa Isthmus
Ishikawa may refer to:
Concepts
*Ishikawa diagram, cause-and-effect diagram, developed by Kaoru Ishikawa
Places
* Ishikawa Prefecture, a prefecture in the Chūbu region on Honshū island, Japan
*Ishikawa District, Ishikawa, a former district in ...
. The castle is in
ruins
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
, with nothing left of the original structures save the walls. There are also multiple
Ryukyuan shrines in the
bailey. Based on artifacts found in and around the castle, it has been estimated to have been in use around the 13th to 15th centuries.
[Flemming, Michael. "Iha Castle Ruins - An Okinawa prefecture cultural asset." Stars and Stripes Okinawa Nov 2013, n. pag. Web. 3 Feb. 2014. . ] The
Okinawa Prefectural government erected a stone
Torii
A is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred.
The presence of a ''torii'' at the entrance is usually the simple ...
in front of one of the castle gates, along with a plaque describing it.
File:Bailey of Iha Castle.jpg, Bailey of Iha Castle.
File:Iha Castle Bailey from a Battlement.jpg, View of the bailey from a battlement.
File:Iha Castle Battlement from the Bailey.jpg, A battlement of Iha Castle.
References
Castles in Okinawa Prefecture
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