Okinawa was a kingdom of its own until the late nineteenth century, and the gusuku are what is left of its stone fortresses. The word means castle, but these are curving walls of pale coral limestone that follow the shape of a hill, with gateways like keyholes and view platforms over the sea. The Ryukyu Kingdom, which was unified under King Sho Hashi in 1429, traded between China, Japan, Korea and southeast Asia, and grew rich as a middle man, with Shuri as its capital. UNESCO listed the Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu in 2000, among them Shuri Castle, the royal burial place of Tamaudun and the garden of Shikinaen.
The castle at Shuri was largely destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, rebuilt after the war, and then badly damaged by fire in October 2019, with reconstruction work continuing afterward. Even so, the walls and gates of the site and the surrounding streets still show the style of the kingdom, with red-tiled roofs, stone lions called shisa against evil spirits, and awamori distilleries in the old district. Further north, Nakagusuku is a different sort of castle, a ridge fortress with elegant curved walls, which the ride list reaches next.
For a rider, Okinawa is a pleasure. Traffic drives on the left, the island's roads are well kept, and speed limits are low, with police and cameras attentive, so patience is rewarded. The built-up area around Naha is slow and congested, with long lines of traffic, but the northern roads on the east coast and the coastal route up to Cape Hedo are delightful in good weather. The island has a subtropical climate. Typhoon season runs from summer to autumn, the rainy season in May and June is wet and humid, and the best months are March to April and October to November.
Fuel is easy in Naha, a city of over three hundred thousand, and in Tomigusuku, where the main roads are lined with stations. Food is a joy: Okinawa soba, goya champuru, a stir-fry of bitter melon, and a glass of awamori, the island's own rice spirit, for those not riding.
Look at the stone of the walls in late afternoon, when the coral limestone turns pale gold against the sky.