Tamaudun and Nakagusuku-jô site

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Tamaudun

   Tamaudun is the royal mausoleum of the Ryukyu kings, a walled complex of grey coral limestone at the foot of Shuri hill, and it feels a little like a stone ship, heavy, low and enclosed. King Sho Shin had it built in 1501 to house the remains of his father and later the kings of the Second Sho dynasty. The Ryukyu kingdom was an independent maritime state with ties to China, Japan and Southeast Asia, and its rulers were buried in a tradition that blended Chinese and Okinawan styles. The tombs have three chambers: one where the bones were laid, one where they were washed, and one for the remains of lesser royalty.

   Read the complete Tamaudun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Tamaudun is where the day begins. Next is Sêfa-utaki.

2. 2. Sêfa-utaki

   For the people of the old Ryukyu Kingdom, there was no holier place than Sēfa-utaki, a grove of forest and rock on the southeastern tip of Okinawa island. An utaki is a sacred site in the Ryukyuan religion, often a grove, a rock or a spring, where gods are believed to descend, and this one was the most important of all. The kingdom's highest priestess, the Kikoe-ōkimi, usually a woman of the royal family, was inaugurated here, and for centuries men were not allowed to enter.

   Read the complete Sêfa-utaki write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sêfa-utaki comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nakagusuku-jô site.

3. 3. Nakagusuku-jô site

   On the ridge above Nakagusuku Bay the walls of an old castle follow the curve of the hill in a long ribbon of pale limestone, and the shapes are surprisingly sophisticated. Nakagusuku was built, probably in the fourteenth century and extended in the fifteenth, by the lord Gosamaru, who was respected as a master builder, and its walls use a technique of fitted, curved stones with no mortar, in a pattern the Okinawans call nunozumi, cloth-laying, and a more rugged style called aikatazumi, which looks like a jigsaw. Six enclosures step up along the ridge, with gateways, a well and the foundations of halls.

   Read the complete Nakagusuku-jô site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 41 km into the recorded legs you reach Nakagusuku-jô site. Next is back through Sêfa-utaki.

4. 4. back through Sêfa-utaki

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sêfa-utaki write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Sêfa-utaki, late in the day. Next is Tamaudun.

5. 5. Tamaudun

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Tamaudun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Tamaudun. That is the ride.