is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Nakagami District,

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In the

Okinawan language Okinawan (, , , ), or more precisely Central Okinawan, is a Northern Ryukyuan languages, Ryukyuan language spoken primarily in the southern half of the Okinawa Island, island of Okinawa, as well as in the surrounding islands of Kerama Islands, K ...

, ''nishi'' means "north" (in standard Japanese, however, it means "west"), as Nishihara was north of the historical Ryukyuan capital of

Shuri Shuri may refer to: People *, ring name of Syuri Kondo, a Japanese professional wrestler, shoot boxer and kickboxer *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese professional wrestler Characters * Shuri (character), a Marvel Comics superhero ** Shuri (Marv ...

. As of October 2016, the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 34,463 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 2,200 persons per km². The total area is . Situated northeast of the city hall of

Naha is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...

, Nishihara is surrounded by the cities, towns, and villages of

Urasoe is a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The neighboring municipalities are Naha to the south, Ginowan to the north, and Nishihara to the east. As of February 2024, the city has an estimated population of 115,518 and a population den ...

Ginowan is a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2024, the city has an estimated population of 100,319, with 47,490 households and a population density of 5,142 persons per km2. The total area is 19.51 km2. The city borders Chatan t ...

, Haebaru,

Yonabaru is a town in Shimajiri District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is located at the southern end of Okinawa Island, on the east coast, overlooking Nakagusuku Bay. As of 2024, the town has a population of 19,817 and a population density of 3,825 pe ...

, and Nakagusuku. Because both the

University of the Ryukyus The , abbreviated to , is a Japanese national university in Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan. Established in 1950, it is the westernmost national university of Japan and the largest public university in Okinawa Prefecture. Located in the Senbaru ne ...

and the Okinawa Christian Junior College are located in Nishihara, and the Okinawa International University is located nearby, Nishihara's municipal slogan is "Education Town".

Geography

The north, west, and south of Nishihara are hilly; these areas give way to the low-lying coast in the east of the town. The highest point in Nishihara is Untamamo (). The low-lying peak, also known as Untamamui in the

, sits to the south of the town on the border of Nishihara and the neighboring town of Urasoe. Due to its pyramidal shape, the peak is sometimes known as the "Nishihara Fuji" for its resemblance to

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

. Untamamo has ''

utaki Utaki (御嶽) is an Okinawan language, Okinawan term for a sacred place, often a Grove (nature), grove, cave, or mountain. They are central to the Ryukyuan religion and the former Noro (priestess), noro priestess system. Although the term ''utak ...

'', or places sacred to the Okinawan religion, on both the north and south sides of the peak. Untamamo was the site of fierce fighting during the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; the

spontaneous combustion Spontaneous combustion or spontaneous ignition is a type of combustion which occurs by self-heating (increase in temperature due to exothermic internal reactions), followed by thermal runaway (self heating which rapidly accelerates to high tem ...

of unexploded ordnance caused numerous mountain fires in the post-war period.

Administrative divisions

The town includes twenty-two wards. *Agarisaki (東崎) *Amuro (安室) *Gaja (我謝) *Goya (呉屋) *Ikeda (池田) *Kadekaru (嘉手苅) *Kakeboku (掛保久) *Kaneku (兼久) *Kobashigawa (小橋川) *Kōchi (幸地) *Kohatsu (小波津) *Morikawa (森川) *Onaga (翁長) *Onaha (小那覇) *Senbaru (千原) *Tanabaru (棚原) *Tōbaru (桃原) *Tokusada (徳佐田) *Tsuhanaha (津花波) *Uchima (内間) *Uehara (上原) *Yonagusuku (与那城)

Neighboring municipalities

* Haebaru *

* Nakagusuku *

History

Nishihara was part of the Nishibaru magiri, one of the ''

magiri The administrative divisions of the Ryukyu Kingdom were a hierarchy composed of districts, ''magiri'', or cities, villages, and islands established by the Ryukyu Kingdom throughout the Ryukyu Islands. Divisions There were three or ''hō'': , , ...

'', or administrative units created prior to the establishment of the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of Ming dynasty, imperial Ming China by the King of Ryukyu, Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island t ...

. The ''magiri'' was administered from the former village of Kōchi; in a later period the administrative center was located in the former village of Unaga. Nishihara flourished as a center of sugar manufacturing at the beginning of the 20th century. The Japanese government promoted the construction of sugar refineries in the village. In 1944 the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

built a military airstrip in the Onaha district of Nishihara; the area was bombed by the United States on October 10 of the same year, causing extensive damage to Onaha. It was near the village of Nishihara that the U.S. 1st Marine Division reached its initial invasion objective on April 4, 1945 during the

. The entirety of Nishihara was destroyed as a front line in the battle, and its residents fled to the north and south of Okinawa Island. However, 47% of the population of Nishihara was ultimately killed during World War II. The Gaja district of Nishihara was the center of initial post-war reconstruction.

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

was planted immediately after the war, but this was soon replaced by the

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

cultivation of the prewar period. Nishihara saw the development of business enterprises and residential land development in the mid-1960s; by 1979 the population of Nishihara had increased to the point that the village was elevated to town status. The urbanization of the town continues due to the presence of university facilities and residential developments.

Cultural and natural assets

Nishihara Town hosts forty-six cultural properties and monuments, most of which appear on municipal listings but are not officially designated or registered at the national, prefectural or municipal level. *Name (Japanese) (Type of registration)

Cultural Properties

*Certification from Tanabaru Village in Nishihara Magiri addressed to Ida Pēchin (西原間切棚原村から伊田親雲上宛の板証書) (Municipal) *Chichinta Gusuku (チチンタ(津記武多)グスク) *Funjurū letters incinerator of Onaga (翁長の焚字炉) *Gaja Site (我謝遺跡) *Higa Family's Tūtīkū Praying Site in Tanabaru (棚原比嘉家の土帝君) *Ikkan-gā well (一貫ガー) *Ishi Gusuku (イシグスク) *Jīma-nu-ukā sacred well (ジーマヌウカー) *Kamuiyaki pot from Uchima No.1 Artefact Scatter (西原町内間散布地No.1出土のカムィ焼) (Municipal) *Kayabuchi Udun Praying Site (カヤブチウドゥン) *Kōchi Aji's Tomb (幸地按司墓) *Kōchi Gusuku (幸地グスク) *Kōchi's Kukuji-mui forest (幸地の刻時森 (ククジムイ)) *Kohatsu's Ii-nu-yama Sacred Site (小波津の上ヌ嶽) *Kohatsu's Shicha-nu-taki Sacred Site (小波津の下ヌ嶽) *Kunkunshi musical score by Yakabi Chōki (屋嘉比朝寄作工工四) (Prefectural) *Nakō-mō Praying Site (ナコーモー (名幸毛)) *Nishihara Nakayama Family Documents (西原中山家文書) (Municipal) *Nishihara's War Memorial (西原の塔) *Nsuhajii reef (ンスハジー) *Onaga Hījā-gā Spring (翁長のヒージャーガー) *Sēguchijō Sacred Site (セーグチジョー) *Stele of the Former King's Old Residence (先王旧宅碑) *Stone lion of Goya (呉屋の石獅子) *Stone lions of Tōbaru (桃原の石獅子) *Stone stele with 致和 inscription (「致和」の石碑) *Sukemasu Ōshiro's Memorial (故大城助素之碑) *Survey Stones (ハル石) *Tanabaru Gusuku (棚原グスク) *Tanabaru Noro Dunchi (priestess’ residence) (棚原ノロ殿内) *Tanabaru Shell Mound (棚原貝塚) *Teranokoshi Noro-gā spring (テラノコシノロガー) *Tirasa-gā spring (ティラサガー) *Tōfugwā-bira Hill (トーフグヮービラ) *Uē-gā spring (親川) *Ufunmi Utaki Sacred Site (ウフンミウタキ) *Untamamui (運玉森) *Urasoe Family's copy of Ise Monogatari (浦添家本伊勢物語) (Prefectural) *Yonagusuku Shell Mound (与那城貝塚) *Yubushi-gā Well (ユブシガー)

Historic Sites

*Former Miyazato Residence in Tanabaru (棚原旧宮里家屋敷跡) (Municipal) *Former Nishihara Village Office air-raid shelter (旧西原村役場壕) (Municipal) *Stone wall with bullet marks in Kohatsu (小波津弾痕の残る石塀) (Municipal) *Tanabaru Paved Road (棚原の石畳道) (Municipal) *Uchima Udun ( 内間御殿) (National)

Natural Monuments Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

*Uchima Udun's powder-puff tree (内間御殿のサワフジ) (Municipal)

Education

Municipal schools: * Nishihara Elementary School (西原小学校) * Nishihara Higashi Elementary School (西原東小学校) * Nishihara Higashi Junior High School ( 西原東中学校) * Nishihara Junior High School ( 西原中学校) * Nishihara Minami Elementary School (西原南小学校) * Sakata Elementary School (坂田小学校) There is also a nationally-controlled elementary school, Elementary School Attached to the College of Education,

( 琉球大学教育学部附属小学校).

Notable people from Nishihara

Hohan Sōken was an Okinawan martial arts master who founded the Shōrin-ryū Matsumura Seito Okinawa Karate Kobudo Association. Biography He was born May 25, 1889 (although at least one text puts his birth year as 1891) in Nishihara, Okinawa. He was the ...

Okinawan martial arts Okinawan martial arts refers to the martial arts, such as karate, tegumi and kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa Island. Due to its location (between " Mainland Japan" and Taiwan), Okinawa was influenced by various c ...

* Koichi Taira, politician

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Towns in Okinawa Prefecture