is a gusuku

Gusuku

, or just , is the term used for the distinctive Okinawan form of castles or fortresses. In standard Japanese, the same kanji is pronounced "shiro", but the word is probably cognate with a different Japanese word, "soko" , which means "fortress"...

in Katsuren

Katsuren, Okinawa

was a town located in Nakagami District, Okinawa, Japan.On April 1, 2005 Katsuren was merged with the town of Yonashiro, also from Nakagami District, and the old cities of Gushikawa and Ishikawa, to form the new city of Uruma....

, Okinawa Prefecture

Okinawa Prefecture

is one of Japan's southern prefectures. It consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. With the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 on two sides, is also called the "Ocean Gusuku". Its "golden age" was in the mid-15th century, under the powerful Lord Amawari

Amawari

' was a Ryukyuan lord of Katsuren Castle , known for his ambitions for the throne of the Ryūkyū Kingdom and scheme and attack against Gosamaru, anji of Nakagusuku.-Life:...

. Precious tile and Chinese porcelain

Chinese porcelain

Chinese ceramic ware shows a continuous development since the pre-dynastic periods, and is one of the most significant forms of Chinese art. China is richly endowed with the raw materials needed for making ceramics. The first types of ceramics were made during the Palaeolithic era...

 of the era have been excavated from Katsuren. Such remains testify to the magnificence of the ancient structure and the robust entrepôt

Entrepôt

An entrepôt is a trading post where merchandise can be imported and exported without paying import duties, often at a profit. This profit is possible because of trade conditions, for example, the reluctance of ships to travel the entire length of a long trading route, and selling to the entrepôt...

trade.

External links

• Katsuren-joshi (gusuku) historical specifics at Wonder Okinawa
• The Amawari-Gosamaru dramatic episode that led to the waning of the power of Katsuren gusuku.