Day #2 Shuri Castle

The weather warmed up nicely for day 2 of our staycation. We headed off to Shuri Castle at Shurijo Castle Park. There are a few castle ruins on the island, but only one that has been rebuilt. Jason took control of the camera that day, and he took a lot of pictures. I'll just take you on his picture tour.
This is in the visitors center- a model of the castle.

The first of many gates.

This was the second, I believe.

This is in front of the Castle, on the parade grounds.

Jason wasn't supposed to take pictures here. We didn't see the signs. These are some instruments that they had displayed.

Walking out on the porch around the garden areas.

Inside the castle.

Going upstairs. The sign said that the government business was conducted downstairs and the living quarters were upstairs, although the big throne room was upstairs, so I think I missed something in the translation.

This room must've been some sort of ceremony room:

Some of the items displayed there:

The throne room. Behind the photographer was a second throne that faced out into the court yard. You'll be able to see it on the pictures of the models that Jason took, which are lower on the page.

The crown.

The seal.

I'm not sure what this is. :)

Here is the model. This is a model of the ceremony on the morning of New Year's Day. New Year's is a very important holiday here.

You can kind of see where the king can sit in the castle to overlook the ceremony, but it's a little behind the beam in this picture. We had a hard time getting the angle and none of the flash.

This is the model depicting the Emperor anointing a new king.

The view from outside the parade grounds.

Exiting the castle grounds.

One of the things the Japanese do to keep the kids interested at these historic sites is have stamping stations spread throughout the park. You get a map and at certain locations, you can stamp your map. Cassie and I had to go back because we missed a lot of stamps.

This is the bell house.

The Shuri Castle is actually pretty small. We got through it in a couple of hours. The kids wanted to be out enjoying the weather so I took them to Torii Beach park to play.