Okinawa Prefecture, Japan: Five hundred years of Ryukyuan history (12th-17th century) are represented by this group of sites and monuments. The ruins of the castles, on imposing elevated sites, are evidence for the social structure over much of that period, while the sacred sites provide mute testimony to the rare survival of an ancient form of religion into the modern age. The wide- ranging economic and cultural contacts of the Ryukyu Islands over that period gave rise to a unique culture.
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At this point, I have visited (and posted) 9 out of 16 of Japan UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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Beautiful Fae!
Okinawans had strong influences from the Imperial China as their kings used to be appointed by the Qing Emperors. They even had students exchange between the two countries. That’s why they had such a strong cultural reflection of the traditional Chinese way. However, due to the falling of Qing dynasty and its power, Japan took over the kingdom in 1872 and since then it has been part of Japan.
I wish I can go there one day. I’ve been to mainland Japan before and absolutely love the culture and food there~_~
Thank you for adding this narrative to this post. We were in Okinawa for only a short time. When you go, make sure you savor their culture, food, music, people… as it is a different perspective than mainland Japan.
Beautiful video and pictures. Thanks for sharing
I think Italy has the most number of World Heritage Sites.
I think so, too!
Beautiful video. I love the structures; stunning!
Hi Judy, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I grew up in Japan and did not know there was an independent Kingdom to the south of Japan, right until the beginning of the 17th century. I always wondered why the Okinawans have such a different culture than the rest of Japan. For that reason, the construction/structures are very different than the ones found in mainland Japan (of course all influence by Chinese architecture).
This is very educational. Okinawans have different culture? I hope you can post about that.