Registration Date：2008.04.18
Introspection 1
Appearance 1
Introspection 2
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This is an old private house on Izena Island that was once dismantled and transported by boat to be restored. It is a one-story wooden structure with a floor plan typical of traditional Okinawan houses. Since there is no ceiling in this minka, you can see the bamboo and soil under the roof tiles, the traditional techniques, the nuchijer (pierced wood), and the beams. In the second room, there is a Buddhist altar with ancestral tablets and an incense burner, as well as Buddhist altar decorations for New Year's and Bon festivals. It is also used for various lectures and Ryukyuan-style wedding ceremonies.
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Description
The Former Uezato Residence Main Building is a house that was built around 1934 in the Aza-Izena district of Izena Village, Okinawa Prefecture. The building is constructed of wood using a design called "Nuchijaa" (in which holes for joints are drilled in pillars and wedges are used to secure beam running through the hole) and traditional red roof tiles secured with stucco as well as a statue of a “Shisaa” (mythical lion-like creature). The floor plan consists of, from the front right:" ichiba-za"(a guest room), "niban-za"(an altar room), a wooden-floored room, a kitchen with an earthen floor, as well as three "ura-za"(back rooms). In the back rooms there is storage space for valuables and other important belongings. The structure uses traditional Okinawan building techniques that show the wisdom of our ancestors, with pillars made of coral limestone at all four corners and extended eaves “amahaji” around the pillars to provide protection from strong direct sunlight and rain blown sideways from entering the building. The Uezato family was commonly called “Shinguyaa”, derived from the family’s grandfather’s name “Shingo”. Since its relocation, the building has been used as a place for culture and craft workshops and a venue for Ryukyu-style wedding ceremonies.
Okinawa was once an independent nation called the Ryukyu Kingdom. Its people traversed the seas and traded with other countries, adopting various cultures while developing a unique culture of their own. When you come here to Ryukyu Kingdom Castle Town, you feel like you have taken a trip in time back to that bygone era. The streets are lined with beautiful old houses with red tile roofs, people in dazzling Ryukyu clothing pass by, and tropical flowers decorate the streets.
This is a place where you can step back in time and experience the Ryukyu Islands of long ago, with surroundings that include the houses and “Fuuru” ( pigsty & latrine) more than 100 years old that are registered as National Tangible Cultural Properties, buildings known as "Kami Ashagi" where community religious rituals are said to have once been performed, and traditional houses featuring masonry that uses techniques unique to Okinawa.
Cultural property information
【Opening hours】
9:00-17:30 (last admission 16:00)
【Closing day】
-
【Fee】
Adult: 2,000 yen, Child: 1,000 yen *Child is between the ages of 4 and 14; 15 and older are charged at the adult rate. Admission is every 20 minutes from Gyokusendo. Web advance tickets are available until the day before admission. On the day of admission, please purchase tickets directly at the Okinawa World ticket counter.
Back to cultural properties in Nanjo City, Okinawa Prefecture
