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Zakimi Castle Ruins

Well knownIn most guidebooks for this region — but rarely with the practical detail.

Researched and written by Hinato

ZakimiGosamaruWorld Heritagestone archesYomitan

Photo: Renate Hano / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · original

What Zakimi Castle Ruins looked like originally and what it looks like now are two different stories — both worth knowing before you arrive.

Zakimi is the smallest of the World Heritage gusuku and the one built by the man generally regarded as the best military engineer the Ryukyu kingdom produced. Gosamaru constructed it in the 1420s on a hill in Yomitan, reusing stone from an earlier castle he had dismantled, and the two arched gateways here are the oldest surviving stone arches in Okinawa.

The walls curve rather than run straight — a continuous serpentine line following the contour — which is what people come to photograph. You can walk on top of them. It is free, has no gate and no closing time, sits on a rise with views over most of Yomitan, and takes half an hour. The pottery village is ten minutes away, which makes the two a natural pair.

What to know before you go

When to go

Year-round | Early morning and late afternoon for the light on the walls

Opening hours

Open 24 hrs

Closed: Open year-round

Time to allow

30–60 minutes

Fee

Free | Free parking | Yuntanza Museum charged separately

Finding your way there

Directions

Yomitan, Nakagami District. Car recommended — from Okinawa-Minami IC. Free to enter with no admission charge, no opening restrictions and no closing days. Free car parks to the north and south of the site. The Yuntanza Museum beside the ruins charges separately.

What locals know

**Walk on the walls.** Access to the wall tops is permitted here, which is not the case at most gusuku, and walking the curve is the experience. **The arches are the oldest in Okinawa.** Two stone arched gateways from the 1420s, surviving in place. Look at how the voussoirs are cut. **Free and open at all hours.** No gate, no ticket, no schedule — which makes early morning and late afternoon viable, and those are the hours the light works. **Add the Yuntanza Museum.** The village museum beside the ruins covers Yomitan's history and the castle and charges separately. **Ten minutes from the pottery village.** Yachimun no Sato is a short drive away and the two are the reason to spend a day in Yomitan.

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