Okinawa · YomitanNo.691★★Open in map →

Zakimi Castle Ruins

historyOff the trail — and worth it

A fifteenth-century Ryukyuan castle on high ground in Yomitan, western Okinawa, where curved coral-limestone walls and wedge-stone arch gates still stand. The grounds are free and open at any hour, with a village museum at the foot.

FromNaha Bus Terminal
~90 minBus, a few departures a day
Get off atZakimi (Yomitan Line, routes 29 and 62)
On foot
Zakimi Castle Ruins

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

This is a World Heritage site and a well-known one, so it is not a hidden place. What keeps it unhurried is the geography and the admission: it sits inland, away from the resort coast, and there is no ticket gate to queue at. Come outside the middle of the day and you can take the walls slowly.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Zakimi Castle arch gateRenate Hano / CC BY-SA 4.0

The outer arch gatethe way in through the outer enclosure, its arch closed by a wedge-shaped keystone
The curving wallcut coral limestone laid in long, shallow bends instead of straight runs
The inner enclosurethe highest ground inside the castle, where the buildings once stood
The view westYomitan's fields and the East China Sea, seen from the high ground
Yuntanza Museumthe village museum below the castle, with rooms on the gusuku and on Yomitan in the war

How to actually get there

Naha Bus Terminal → Zakimi bus stop (Yomitan Line route 29 or 62, via Kina, about 90 min).
Zakimi bus stop → Yuntanza Museum and the castle approach (walk about 10 min, uphill).
Museum first, then up through the arch gates to the inner enclosure and the west-facing wall.
Return from Zakimi, or walk about 20 minutes west to Takashiho Iriguchi for the more frequent route 28.

Yomitan Line bus from Naha Bus Terminal: Naha Bus Terminal → Zakimi on the Yomitan Line via Kina, routes 29 and 62. The ride takes about 90 minutes. These two routes run only a handful of times a day, so fix your departure before you leave Naha rather than turning up at the terminal and hoping.
Return from Zakimi: Routes 29 and 62 run back to Naha and they finish early in the evening. Read the timetable posted at the Zakimi stop when you arrive and set your turnaround by it. If you miss the last one, route 28 leaves from Takashiho Iriguchi far more often.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

A gusuku is the Ryukyuan form of castle, built from cut coral limestone rather than earth and timber. Zakimi stands on high ground in Yomitan, on the western side of Okinawa's main island. The outer wall runs 365 metres around an interior of 7,385 square metres. That wall does not run straight. It bends in long, shallow curves, and the enclosures are entered through arch gates whose wedge-shaped keystones are counted among the older surviving examples in Okinawa. No roof tiles have been excavated inside, so the buildings that once stood here are thought to have been shingled in wood.

How to enjoy it

The grounds have no gate, so it is the museum below that sets your window: 9:00 to 18:00, with last entry at 17:30. Walk the exhibition rooms first if you want the masonry to make sense, then climb. Late in the afternoon the light comes in low across the curved wall.

Background & history

The castle is credited to Gosamaru, a lord of Yomitan with a reputation as a builder, who raised it in the early fifteenth century — 1416 by the usual account, though 1422 is also given. The Ryukyu government listed it as an important cultural property in 1956, and it became a national historic site in 1972, the year Okinawa returned to Japanese administration. Excavation and wall repair funded by the national and prefectural governments began the year after that. In December 2000 it was inscribed with the other Ryukyuan sites on the World Heritage list.

Before you go

Cash: The castle grounds cost nothing. The Yuntanza Museum charges separately — 500 yen for high-school age and above from outside the village, 300 yen for elementary and junior-high students, as posted by the museum at the time of checking. Carry cash for the bus and the ticket desk.
Good to know: The museum closes on Wednesdays and from 28 December to 4 January; the castle grounds stay open on those days. There are no railings along the top of the walls, and no lighting after dark. Okinawa's typhoon season runs through summer and autumn, so check the forecast before you travel.
Another way: Coming from Nago in the north, Nago Line routes 20 and 120 stop at Kina, about 30 minutes on foot from the castle. By car it is roughly five minutes from the Kina junction on National Route 58, and the car park is free.
After you get off: From the Zakimi stop, walk north and uphill for about ten minutes on village streets. The museum and the castle car park share the same approach.