Okinawa: Restoration of Shuri Castle Reaches the Roof;Workers to Place 30,000 Red Tiles on Rebuilt Structure

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:10 JST, July 27, 2024

NAHA — Roofing work has begun on the reconstructed Seiden main hall of fire-ravaged Shuri Castle in Naha. The castle’s roofs are expected to be covered by about 30,000 red tiles.

The red tiles are made from a powder of finely crushed roof tiles previously used at the castle, which was mostly destroyed by a fire in 2019, in addition to red clay and kucha, or mudstone containing iron.

The roofing operation started on July 15. Inside a temporary structure to keep out rain and wind, about 10 workers carefully placed tiles one by one on the edges of the frameworks of the roofs.

“We’d like to build a great work that will last a long time, together with workers from inside and outside the prefecture,” a local worker involved in the project said, referring to Okinawa Prefecture’s tradition of mutual assistance.

The castle’s main hall burned down in the October 2019 fire, together with six other buildings of the complex, including the north hall. Two other buildings were partly damaged. The restoration work for the main hall started in November 2022. The work, including lacquering of the exterior, is scheduled to be completed in the autumn of 2026.