World Travel

Naha grew from a cluster of coastal villages into the bustling heart of the Ryukyu Kingdom, shaped for centuries by trade winds and ships moving between Japan, China, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Today, it is a modern island city where castle walls, market streets, American-era influences, and resort life coexist in everyday routines.

From at least the 11th century, the Naha area functioned as an active port, linking the Ryukyu Islands with the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula through maritime trade. In the 15th century, it became a key port and then the political and commercial center of the unified Ryukyu Kingdom, thriving as a hub for exchange with China and other Asian countries.
Four bustling villages known as the “four markets of Naha” formed the core of this trade town, supported by warehouses, temples, and defensive forts guarding the harbor. Chinese merchant families settled here in the late 14th century, helping to create a cosmopolitan community and shaping local food and customs. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Naha was opened as a treaty port, then formally established and expanded as a modern city, later becoming the capital of Okinawa after World War II.
Shuri Castle, rising on the hills above Naha, served as the royal palace and political, diplomatic, and ritual center of the Ryukyu Kingdom. The complex blended architectural influences from Japan, China, and Southeast Asia, with bright vermilion halls, curving tiled roofs, and massive limestone walls that looked out over the port city below.Læs mere