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KITA-NAKAGUSUKU |
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About 10km north of Naha, Highway 330 skirts east of Futenma Airbase
before hitting a major junction. A little further north, a road cuts
east through the hills to KITA-NAKAGUSUKU village where, in the early
fifteenth century, Nakamura Gashi served as a teacher to Lord Gosamaru.
In the early eighteenth century, after a rocky patch, one of Gashi's
descendants was appointed village leader and started building his
family's large, beautifully solid residence, Nakamura-ke (daily
9.30am-5pm; ¥300 including tea). Protected by limestone walls, a thick
belt of trees and a growling shiisa perched on the red-tile roof, the
house is typical of a wealthy landowner's residence, with its barns, a
lovely grain store and the inevitable rows of pigsties. Inside, there
are a few family heirlooms, and the enterprising owners have set up a
small shop and restaurant next door.
To reach Nakamura-ke by public transport, take one of the many buses
from Naha north to Okinawa City (#23, #25, #31 and #90 are all fairly
frequent) for the hour's ride to the Futenma junction. Then hop on the
next #59 bus heading north (hourly; 15min; ¥140) and ask the driver to
let you off at the Nakamura-ke turning, from where it's a 1500-metre
walk uphill. Alternatively, a taxi from Futenma costs about ¥700 one way.
While you're up here, it's worth walking five minutes west to where the
limestone cliffs merge into the crumbling walls of Nakagusuku-jo (daily
8.30am-5pm; ¥300). These impressive fortifications, consisting of six
citadels on a spectacular promontory, were originally built in the early
fifteenth century by a local lord, Gosamaru. They weren't enough to
withstand his rival, Lord Amawari, however, who ransacked the castle in
1458 and then abandoned the site. Nowadays you can walk through the
grassy, tree-filled park and scramble among the ruins to admire the
views clear across the island. Taxis usually hang around the castle
entrance to whisk visitors back down to Futenma.
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