Naha, Okinawa
Encyclopedia
is the capital city
of the Japanese prefecture
of Okinawa
.
Naha is a coastal city located on the East China Sea
coast of the southern part of Okinawa Island
, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands
. The modern city was officially founded on May 20, 1921, but prior to that Naha had already been for centuries one of the most important and populous sites in the Ryukyu Islands.
Naha is the political, economic and educational center of Okinawa Prefecture. In the medieval and early modern periods, it was also the commercial center of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
.
, Naha City Hall, and many banks and corporations, located at the west end of Kokusai-dōri, the city's main street. boasts a mile (1.6 km) long stretch of stores, restaurants and bars. Kokusai-dōri ends at the main bus terminal in Okinawa, and is served by several stations along the Okinawa Monorail, the only train system in the prefecture.
Spurring off from Kokusai-dōri is the covered Heiwa-dōri Shopping Arcade and Makishi Public Market, a massive shōtengai
filled with fresh fish, meat, and produce stands, restaurants, tourist goods shops, and liquor shops. Just outside the market area is the neighborhood of , which was once a major center of ceramic production (see Tsuboya-yaki).
Northeast of Kokusai-dōri is a relatively new commercial district called . The area, formerly United States military housing, was released to Okinawa in 1987, but major development only began in the mid-1990s. Omoromachi Station
is attached directly to an upscale shopping mall; another upscale shopping mall, "Naha Main Place", located a few hundred meters down the street, contains many upscale Western brand fashion boutiques, along with restaurants and other shops. Frequented by young people, the area boasts large stores such as Toys R Us and Best Denki (an electronics store), a co-op market, many restaurants and a movie theater. The Okinawa Prefectural Museum
, containing sections devoted to the art, history, and natural history of the Ryukyus, opened in the area in November 2007, and sits in front of Shintoshin Park.
-shaped stone in the city. Gradually, the stone wore away and became buried, and the name's pronunciation and its kanji
gradually changed. (Oshiro, 1964).
In Naha, some archeological relics of the Stone Age
were found. Also, from a Jōmon period
kaizuka
(shell mound), ancient Chinese coins were found. Pottery found by archaeologists indicates that the area was an active site of trade with the Japanese archipelago and Korean peninsula at least as early as the 11th century. Though it is not known just when the area first became organized as a functioning port city, it was active as such by the time of the unification of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in the early 15th century.
Though today Naha has grown to incorporate the former royal capital city of Shuri, center of Chinese learning Kumemura
, and other towns and villages, in the period of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, it was a smaller city, prominent as a major port, but not as a political center.
Medieval Naha was located on a tiny island called Ukishima, connected to the mainland of Okinawa Island by a narrow causeway called which led on to Shuri. The main port area for international trade, Naha proper, was divided into the East (東, higashi) and West (西, nishi) districts, and was located on the southwestern portion of Ukishima. A large open air marketplace was active in front of the royal government trading center, or oyamise (親見世). A number of Japanese temples and shrines were located here, along with a residence and embassy, known as the Tenshikan (天使館), for visiting Chinese officials. A pair of forts (Mie gusuku and Yarazamori gusuku) built atop embankments extending out across the entrance to the harbor defended the port, and a small island located within the harbor held a warehouse, Omono gusuku (御物グスク), used for storing trade goods.
Tomari (泊), on the mainland of Okinawa Island to the northeast of Ukishima, served as the chief port for trade within the Ryūkyū Islands. The administrators of Tomari were also responsible for collecting and managing the tribute
paid to the kingdom by the Amami Islands
, whose tribute ships made port here.
ran across Ukishima from southeast to northwest, forming the center of the walled community of Kumemura
, the center of classical Chinese learning in Ryūkyū for centuries. Kumemura is traditionally believed to have been founded by thirty-six Min families sent to Ryūkyū by the Ming Chinese Imperial Court, and to be inhabited primarily or solely by descendants of those settlers; historian Uezato Takashi points out, however, that due to Naha's prominence in international maritime trade networks, it is quite likely that many other Chinese, chiefly from Fujian
and other maritime trading areas along the southern Chinese coast, would have settled here as well. Major sites within the community included the Tensonbyō Taoist
temple near the northern end of Kume-Ōdōri and two shrines called Upper and Lower Tenpigū, dedicated to the Taoist goddess of the sea Tenpi, also known as Matsu. A Confucian temple, the gift of the Kangxi Emperor
, was built in Kumemura in the 1670s; the Meirindō, a school of classic Confucian Chinese learning, was established in 1718. Following their destruction in World War II
, the Meirindō, Confucian temple, and Tenpigū shrines were rebuilt on the site of the Tensonbyō in northern Kume, where they stand today as the Confucian temple Shiseibyō
.
On the northwest side of Ukishima lay , a community traditionally said to have been founded by Japanese settlers. It was organized around Wakasamachi-Ōdōri, an avenue which intersected with Kume-Ōdōri and ran across tidal mudflats to the east of Ukishima, connecting the community to the port of Tomari on the Okinawan mainland. A number of Japanese shrines and temples were located in Wakasamachi, including the Naminoue Shrine
, the Zen
temple Kōganji, and temples devoted to Ebisu
and Jizō. The community also contained lodgings specifically set aside for traders and travelers from the Tokara Islands
.
Another settlement, known as Izumizaki, lay on the mainland of Okinawa Island, just across the Kumoji River from Ukishima. Izumizaki had no notable or major port facilities, and is believed to have been simply an extension of the residential community of Naha proper, which thus spread onto the mainland as the population and according demand for land grew. At some point, the tidal mudflats and Kumoji River separating Ukishima, that is, Naha, from Okinawa Island were filled in. The neighborhoods of Kume, Wakasa, and Tomari can still be found in Naha today.
Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expeditionary squadron stopped in Naha en route to Tokyo in 1853; and the American ships visited several more times. The lithographs prepared from drawings made by the expedition's official artist would be widely circulated. These images would provide the basis for 19th century impressions of the geography and people of the Ryūkyū islands.
After the replacement of the Ryūkyū Kingdom with the Ryūkyū Domain in 1872, Naha became the capital city. The Ryūkyū Domain was abolished in 1879 and the former Ryūkyū Kingdom came to an end, fully annexed by Japan as Okinawa Prefecture
, with Naha remaining as the capital city. Shuri and other neighboring municipalities were absorbed into the city in the decades following.
During the battle of Okinawa
in World War II
, Naha suffered extensive damage from the fighting. The entire centre of the city had to be rebuilt.
(Cfa), with hot and humid summers and warm "winters". Similar to most of Japan, the city features hot and humid summers with average high temperatures in July, the city warmest month, just exceeding 31 degrees Celsius. However unlike most of Japan, the city features warm "winters", with average high temperatures in the coolest months (January and February) hovering around 19 degrees Celsius and average lows around 14 degrees Celsius. Snowfall is extremely rare in Naha, but the city sees a substantial amount of rainfall, averaging in excess of 2000 mm (79 in) of rain per year.
, is a type of martial art developed in Naha. Together with the martial arts styles developed in Tomari
and Shuri it formed the basis for Okinawa-te, which in turn is the origin of today's karate
.
and Ryukyu Air Commuter
, subsidiaries of Japan Airlines
, are headquartered in Naha.
, the sole national university in Okinawa Prefecture, was also in Naha, on the site of Shuri Castle. Prior to the restoration of the castle, the university moved to the town of Nishihara
to the northeast of Naha.
Naha's public elementary and junior high schools are operated by the Naha City Board of Education. Naha's public high schools are operated by the Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education
. Private schools include the Okinawa Actors' School
.
and the Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai
, are based in Naha. The Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai is the largest yakuza group in Okinawa Prefecture, followed by the Kyokuryu-kai.
, the former royal palace of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, is one of the finest gusuku
(Okinawan castle) and among the most important historical sites in Naha. The palace, and a series of tunnels underneath it, were used as a major command post by the Imperial Japanese military during World War II, and the castle was subsequently almost completely destroyed in 1945 by the US Marines, Army and Navy. After the war, the University of the Ryūkyūs was constructed on the site. Today Shuri Castle has been reconstructed, including the famous Shureimon
, its main gate, and is registered, along with a number of other gusuku and other Okinawan historical and sacred sites, as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
.
Lake Man
, covered with mangrove
woods on the boundary of the city of Tomigusuku
, is listed on the Ramsar
list of wetland
s.
and Naha Port serve the city. Naha Airport is the hub of the Ryukyu Islands.
The Okinawa Monorail, also known as the Yui Rail (ゆいレール) carries passengers from Naha Airport Station to the center of Naha, Kokusai-dōri, Shintoshin, and to the terminal at Shuri Station
, near Shuri Castle.
Population as of May 29, 2011 is 315,765 according to the Statistics Bureau Japan
for Sega
Ryu ga Gotoku 3, or Yakuza 3 in its North American localization, in a 2009 video game on PlayStation 3
. This virtual version includes Kokusai-dōri, the covered Heiwa-dōri Shopping Arcade, Makishi Public Market and the Monorail's Kenchō-mae Station.
Shuri Castle during the American invasion was recreated in Call of Duty: World at War
during the final stages of the game. The player must help capture the castle and it is the final level for the American portion of the story.
Naha City was prominently featured in the 1986 film The Karate Kid Part II
The name Naha was used in Microsoft's 2003 space simulation game Freelancer
. The Gas Miner "Naha" is a station owned by the Gas Miners Guild (GMG) in the Sigma-13 system.
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
of the Japanese prefecture
Prefectures of Japan
The prefectures of Japan are the country's 47 subnational jurisdictions: one "metropolis" , Tokyo; one "circuit" , Hokkaidō; two urban prefectures , Osaka and Kyoto; and 43 other prefectures . In Japanese, they are commonly referred to as...
of Okinawa
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...
.
Naha is a coastal city located on the East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...
coast of the southern part of Okinawa Island
Okinawa Island
Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture. The island has an area of...
, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
. The modern city was officially founded on May 20, 1921, but prior to that Naha had already been for centuries one of the most important and populous sites in the Ryukyu Islands.
Naha is the political, economic and educational center of Okinawa Prefecture. In the medieval and early modern periods, it was also the commercial center of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
Ryukyu Kingdom
The Ryūkyū Kingdom was an independent kingdom which ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th century to the 19th century. The Kings of Ryūkyū unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan...
.
City Center
Central Naha consists of the Palette Kumoji shopping mall, the Okinawa Prefecture OfficeOkinawa Prefecture Office
The Okinawa Prefecture Government Building is one of the tallest buildings in Naha City, Okinawa, Japan, and is the center for Japanese governmental functions stretching across Okinawa Prefecture. There are 14 floors above ground and two below including a civic hall and government information...
, Naha City Hall, and many banks and corporations, located at the west end of Kokusai-dōri, the city's main street. boasts a mile (1.6 km) long stretch of stores, restaurants and bars. Kokusai-dōri ends at the main bus terminal in Okinawa, and is served by several stations along the Okinawa Monorail, the only train system in the prefecture.
Spurring off from Kokusai-dōri is the covered Heiwa-dōri Shopping Arcade and Makishi Public Market, a massive shōtengai
Shotengai
A shōtengai is a style of Japanese commercial district running along a certain street. Shōtengai often connect to the nearest train station. Most suburbs and towns of Japan have shōtengai of varying size, and larger shōtengai may take the form of covered arcades that are blocked off to traffic...
filled with fresh fish, meat, and produce stands, restaurants, tourist goods shops, and liquor shops. Just outside the market area is the neighborhood of , which was once a major center of ceramic production (see Tsuboya-yaki).
Northeast of Kokusai-dōri is a relatively new commercial district called . The area, formerly United States military housing, was released to Okinawa in 1987, but major development only began in the mid-1990s. Omoromachi Station
Omoromachi Station
' is a railway station on the Okinawa Monorail located in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. In the original plans, this station was to be called Makabi Station, after the neighboring district, but opened as Omoromachi Station on August 10, 2003....
is attached directly to an upscale shopping mall; another upscale shopping mall, "Naha Main Place", located a few hundred meters down the street, contains many upscale Western brand fashion boutiques, along with restaurants and other shops. Frequented by young people, the area boasts large stores such as Toys R Us and Best Denki (an electronics store), a co-op market, many restaurants and a movie theater. The Okinawa Prefectural Museum
Okinawa Prefectural Museum
The ' is a museum complex in the Omoro-machi area of Naha, the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. It opened in November 2007, and includes art, history, and natural history museums focusing specifically on Okinawan topics....
, containing sections devoted to the art, history, and natural history of the Ryukyus, opened in the area in November 2007, and sits in front of Shintoshin Park.
History
According to the Irosetsuden, the name of Naha comes from its original name, Naba, which was the name of a certain large, mushroomMushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
-shaped stone in the city. Gradually, the stone wore away and became buried, and the name's pronunciation and its kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
gradually changed. (Oshiro, 1964).
In Naha, some archeological relics of the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
were found. Also, from a Jōmon period
Jomon period
The is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14,000 BC to 300 BC.The term jōmon means "cord-patterned" in Japanese. This refers to the pottery style characteristic of the Jōmon culture, and which has markings made using sticks with cords wrapped around them...
kaizuka
Kaizuka
Kaizuka can refer to:*Kaizuka, Osaka,city located in Osaka*Nishitetsu Kaizuka Line, train lines*7475 Kaizuka, asteroid...
(shell mound), ancient Chinese coins were found. Pottery found by archaeologists indicates that the area was an active site of trade with the Japanese archipelago and Korean peninsula at least as early as the 11th century. Though it is not known just when the area first became organized as a functioning port city, it was active as such by the time of the unification of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in the early 15th century.
Though today Naha has grown to incorporate the former royal capital city of Shuri, center of Chinese learning Kumemura
Kumemura
Kumemura , located on Okinawa, in the port city of Naha and near the royal capital of Shuri, was a community of scholars, bureaucrats, and diplomats, and a center of culture and learning during the time of the Ryūkyū Kingdom...
, and other towns and villages, in the period of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, it was a smaller city, prominent as a major port, but not as a political center.
Medieval Naha was located on a tiny island called Ukishima, connected to the mainland of Okinawa Island by a narrow causeway called which led on to Shuri. The main port area for international trade, Naha proper, was divided into the East (東, higashi) and West (西, nishi) districts, and was located on the southwestern portion of Ukishima. A large open air marketplace was active in front of the royal government trading center, or oyamise (親見世). A number of Japanese temples and shrines were located here, along with a residence and embassy, known as the Tenshikan (天使館), for visiting Chinese officials. A pair of forts (Mie gusuku and Yarazamori gusuku) built atop embankments extending out across the entrance to the harbor defended the port, and a small island located within the harbor held a warehouse, Omono gusuku (御物グスク), used for storing trade goods.
Tomari (泊), on the mainland of Okinawa Island to the northeast of Ukishima, served as the chief port for trade within the Ryūkyū Islands. The administrators of Tomari were also responsible for collecting and managing the tribute
Tribute
A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...
paid to the kingdom by the Amami Islands
Amami Islands
The are a group of islands that is part of the Satsunan Islands, which are then part of the Nansei Islands. The islands are part of Kagoshima Prefecture, in the Kyūshū region of Japan...
, whose tribute ships made port here.
ran across Ukishima from southeast to northwest, forming the center of the walled community of Kumemura
Kumemura
Kumemura , located on Okinawa, in the port city of Naha and near the royal capital of Shuri, was a community of scholars, bureaucrats, and diplomats, and a center of culture and learning during the time of the Ryūkyū Kingdom...
, the center of classical Chinese learning in Ryūkyū for centuries. Kumemura is traditionally believed to have been founded by thirty-six Min families sent to Ryūkyū by the Ming Chinese Imperial Court, and to be inhabited primarily or solely by descendants of those settlers; historian Uezato Takashi points out, however, that due to Naha's prominence in international maritime trade networks, it is quite likely that many other Chinese, chiefly from Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
and other maritime trading areas along the southern Chinese coast, would have settled here as well. Major sites within the community included the Tensonbyō Taoist
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
temple near the northern end of Kume-Ōdōri and two shrines called Upper and Lower Tenpigū, dedicated to the Taoist goddess of the sea Tenpi, also known as Matsu. A Confucian temple, the gift of the Kangxi Emperor
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's...
, was built in Kumemura in the 1670s; the Meirindō, a school of classic Confucian Chinese learning, was established in 1718. Following their destruction in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Meirindō, Confucian temple, and Tenpigū shrines were rebuilt on the site of the Tensonbyō in northern Kume, where they stand today as the Confucian temple Shiseibyō
Shiseibyo
The ' is a Confucian temple in the Wakasa district of Naha, Okinawa. It served for centuries as a major center of Chinese learning for the Ryūkyū Kingdom, and contains within its precincts the Meirindō, first public school in Okinawa.-History:...
.
On the northwest side of Ukishima lay , a community traditionally said to have been founded by Japanese settlers. It was organized around Wakasamachi-Ōdōri, an avenue which intersected with Kume-Ōdōri and ran across tidal mudflats to the east of Ukishima, connecting the community to the port of Tomari on the Okinawan mainland. A number of Japanese shrines and temples were located in Wakasamachi, including the Naminoue Shrine
Naminoue Shrine
', literally "Above the Waves Shrine", is a Shinto shrine in Naha, Okinawa, Japan, the in the prefecture. It sits atop a high bluff, overlooking Naminoue Beach and the ocean....
, the Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
temple Kōganji, and temples devoted to Ebisu
Ebisu (mythology)
Ebisu , also transliterated Yebisu or called Hiruko or Kotoshiro-nushi-no-kami , is the Japanese god of fishermen, luck, and workingmen, as well as the guardian of the health of small children...
and Jizō. The community also contained lodgings specifically set aside for traders and travelers from the Tokara Islands
Tokara Islands
The Tokara Islands is a group of islands in part of the Satsunan Islands, which is part of the Nansei Islands. The whole island group belongs to Toshima Village, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan....
.
Another settlement, known as Izumizaki, lay on the mainland of Okinawa Island, just across the Kumoji River from Ukishima. Izumizaki had no notable or major port facilities, and is believed to have been simply an extension of the residential community of Naha proper, which thus spread onto the mainland as the population and according demand for land grew. At some point, the tidal mudflats and Kumoji River separating Ukishima, that is, Naha, from Okinawa Island were filled in. The neighborhoods of Kume, Wakasa, and Tomari can still be found in Naha today.
Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expeditionary squadron stopped in Naha en route to Tokyo in 1853; and the American ships visited several more times. The lithographs prepared from drawings made by the expedition's official artist would be widely circulated. These images would provide the basis for 19th century impressions of the geography and people of the Ryūkyū islands.
After the replacement of the Ryūkyū Kingdom with the Ryūkyū Domain in 1872, Naha became the capital city. The Ryūkyū Domain was abolished in 1879 and the former Ryūkyū Kingdom came to an end, fully annexed by Japan as 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...
, with Naha remaining as the capital city. Shuri and other neighboring municipalities were absorbed into the city in the decades following.
During the battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Naha suffered extensive damage from the fighting. The entire centre of the city had to be rebuilt.
Climate
Naha features a warm humid subtropical climateHumid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters...
(Cfa), with hot and humid summers and warm "winters". Similar to most of Japan, the city features hot and humid summers with average high temperatures in July, the city warmest month, just exceeding 31 degrees Celsius. However unlike most of Japan, the city features warm "winters", with average high temperatures in the coolest months (January and February) hovering around 19 degrees Celsius and average lows around 14 degrees Celsius. Snowfall is extremely rare in Naha, but the city sees a substantial amount of rainfall, averaging in excess of 2000 mm (79 in) of rain per year.
Martial arts
Naha-te, (Naha-hand), called Nawate by Gichin FunakoshiGichin Funakoshi
was the creator of Shotokan karate, perhaps the most widely known style of karate, and is attributed as being the 'father of modern karate.' Following the teachings of Anko Itosu, he was one of the Okinawan karate masters who introduced karate to the Japanese mainland in 1921...
, is a type of martial art developed in Naha. Together with the martial arts styles developed in Tomari
Tomari
Tomari is a coastal town in Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, located on the western coast of Sakhalin 167 km north-west of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Population: 5,338 ; 8,121 .-History:The town was founded in 1870...
and Shuri it formed the basis for Okinawa-te, which in turn is the origin of today's karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
.
Economy
Japan Transocean AirJapan Transocean Air
, or JTA, is an airline based in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It operates domestic services. Its main base is Naha Airport.- History :...
and Ryukyu Air Commuter
Ryukyu Air Commuter
is an airline headquartered in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It operates domestic passenger services from the island of Okinawa to the Ryūkyū Islands and Amami Islands.-Code data:*ICAO Code: RAC*Callsign: RYUKYU-History:...
, subsidiaries of Japan Airlines
Japan Airlines
is an airline headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. It is the flag carrier of Japan and its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport , as well as Nagoya's Chūbu Centrair International Airport and Osaka's Kansai International Airport...
, are headquartered in Naha.
Education
Four universities are located in the Naha area. Two are run by Okinawa Prefecture; two are private. The University of the RyukyusUniversity of the Ryukyus
The , abbreviated to Ryūdai , is a national university of Japan. It is located in the town of Nishihara on Okinawa Honto in Okinawa Prefecture. There are also campuses in Nakagusuku and Ginowan. It is the westernmost national university of Japan and the largest public university in Okinawa Prefecture...
, the sole national university in Okinawa Prefecture, was also in Naha, on the site of Shuri Castle. Prior to the restoration of the castle, the university moved to the town of Nishihara
Nishihara, Okinawa
is a town located in Nakagami District, Okinawa, Japan.As of 2008, the town has an estimated population of 34,869 and a density of 2,201 persons per km²...
to the northeast of Naha.
Naha's public elementary and junior high schools are operated by the Naha City Board of Education. Naha's public high schools are operated by the Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education
Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education
Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education is the prefectural education agency of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan.The board oversees municipal school districts in Okinawa and directly operates many high schools.-Schools directly operated by the agency:-Ginowan:...
. Private schools include the Okinawa Actors' School
Okinawa Actors' School
is a school in Ginowan, Okinawa which has another branch in Osaka. It was founded in 1983 by Masayuki Makino who became the first principal of the school.-Notable alumni:*Daichi Miura*Speed*Imai Eriko*Shimabukuro Hiroko*Arakaki Hitoe*Uehara Takako*MAX...
.
Crime and safety
Two designated yakuza groups, the Kyokuryu-kaiKyokuryu-kai
The is a yakuza criminal organization based on the Okinawa island of Japan, with an estimated membership of 210–270.Headquartered in Naha, Okinawa, the Kyokuryu-kai is one of the two designated yakuza groups in Okinawa Prefecture along with its splinter group Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai, and had been...
and the Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai
Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai
The is a yakuza criminal organization based on the Okinawa island of Japan. A designated yakuza group with an estimated 523 active members and 145 semi-active members, the Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai is the largest yakuza organization in Okinawa Prefecture.-History:...
, are based in Naha. The Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai is the largest yakuza group in Okinawa Prefecture, followed by the Kyokuryu-kai.
Sights
The restored and rebuilt Shuri CastleShuri Castle
Shuri Castle is a gusuku in Shuri, Okinawa. It was the palace of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed...
, the former royal palace of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, is one of the finest 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"...
(Okinawan castle) and among the most important historical sites in Naha. The palace, and a series of tunnels underneath it, were used as a major command post by the Imperial Japanese military during World War II, and the castle was subsequently almost completely destroyed in 1945 by the US Marines, Army and Navy. After the war, the University of the Ryūkyūs was constructed on the site. Today Shuri Castle has been reconstructed, including the famous Shureimon
Shureimon
This article is about the gate in the Shuri neighborhood in Japan. For the Digimon see Hawkmon.Shureimon is a gate in the Shuri neighborhood of Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the second of Shuri Castle's main gates...
, its main gate, and is registered, along with a number of other gusuku and other Okinawan historical and sacred sites, as a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
Lake Man
Lake Man
, is an area of wetlands in Japan that is located between the cities of Naha, Okinawa and Tomigusuku, and within Manko Park. Despite being called "Lake Man", it is in fact a wetland and not a lake....
, covered with mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
woods on the boundary of the city of Tomigusuku
Tomigusuku, Okinawa
is a city located in Okinawa, Japan.As of 2006, the city has an estimated population of 53,499 and the density of 2,779.16 persons per km². The total area is 19.25 km²....
, is listed on the Ramsar
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
list of wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s.
Festival
- Naha Hari in May 3 to 5 every year
- Naha Festival in October 9 to 11 every year, and attraction in big tsunahiki has certified by Guinness World Record
Transport
Naha AirportNaha Airport
-Incidents:* On December 1, 1994, Ramzi Yousef planted a bomb on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, with the intent of mass murder. The bomb exploded on the Boeing 747-283B en route from Cebu to Tokyo, killing one passenger...
and Naha Port serve the city. Naha Airport is the hub of the Ryukyu Islands.
The Okinawa Monorail, also known as the Yui Rail (ゆいレール) carries passengers from Naha Airport Station to the center of Naha, Kokusai-dōri, Shintoshin, and to the terminal at Shuri Station
Shuri Station
Shuri Station is a railway station on the Okinawa Monorail located in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The station was originally planned to be named Tera Station , after the neighborhood within Shuri, but opened as Shuri Station on August 10, 2003...
, near Shuri Castle.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Naha is twinned with:| Fuzhou Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area.... , People's Republic of China People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... since 1981 Honolulu, United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... since 1961 Kawasaki Kawasaki, Kanagawa is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is the 9th most populated city in Japan and one of the main cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area.... , Kanagawa Prefecture Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period... since 1996 (domestic) |
Nichinan Nichinan, Miyazaki is a city in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on January 1, 1950. As of November 1, 2009, the city has an estimated population of 57,866 and a population density of 108 persons per km². The city's total area is 536.12 km².... , Miyazaki Prefecture Miyazaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. The capital is the city of Miyazaki.- History :Historically, after the Meiji Restoration, Hyūga Province was renamed Miyazaki Prefecture.... since 1969 (domestic) São Vicente São Vicente, São Paulo São Vicente is a coastal city of southern São Paulo, Brazil. Its estimated population in 2006 was 329,370 inhabitants.It was the first Portuguese permanent settlement in the Americas and the first capital of the Captaincy of São Vicente, now the state of São Paulo... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... since 1978 São Paulo São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... Prefeitura.Sp - Descentralized Cooperation |
Population as of May 29, 2011 is 315,765 according to the Statistics Bureau Japan
People
Famous people with links to the city of Okinawa include- Namie AmuroNamie Amurois a Japanese R&B and pop singer, entertainer, and former actress who at the height of her popularity was referred to as the "Teen Queen" and the title "Queen of Japanese Pop Music". Born in Naha, Okinawa, Amuro debuted at the age of 14 as an idol in the girl group Super Monkey's...
, singer, formerly from Super Monkey'sSuper Monkey'swas an Okinawan pop-singing and dancing group that spawned the careers of Namie Amuro and some members of the girl group, MAX. The group went through several member and name changes before coming into prominence in 1995 with the release of their fifth single, Try Me ~Watashi o Shinjite~.- Pre-debut...
, called "Queen of Japanese Pop" - CoccoCoccois a female Ryukyuan folk rock singer who debuted in 1996 with a self-titled EP titled Cocko. A track from the EP, "Sing a Song ~No Music, No Life~", was used in an advertising campaign for Tower Records Japan. In March 1997, she released her major label debut single "Kauntodaun" and a full-length...
, singer - Gichin FunakoshiGichin Funakoshiwas the creator of Shotokan karate, perhaps the most widely known style of karate, and is attributed as being the 'father of modern karate.' Following the teachings of Anko Itosu, he was one of the Okinawan karate masters who introduced karate to the Japanese mainland in 1921...
- Kazuki GanahaKazuki GanahaKazuki Ganaha is an Japanese football player who currently plays for F.C. Ryūkyū. He is a right-footed forward.-Playing career:...
- Ankō ItosuAnko Itosuis considered by many the father of modern karate, although this title is also often given to Gichin Funakoshi because the latter spread karate throughout Japan.- Biography :...
- Kanryō Higaonna
- Sōkon MatsumuraSokon Matsumurawas one of the original karate masters of Okinawa. His life is reported variously as or or or -Early history:...
- Yui AragakiYui Aragakiis a Japanese idol, model, actress, singer, seiyū and occasional radio show host of Ryukyuan ancestry.She is particularly recognized for her beauty and her movie projects.- Overview :...
Naha in popular media
Portions of Naha have been faithfully recreated in 3D3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
for Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Ryu ga Gotoku 3, or Yakuza 3 in its North American localization, in a 2009 video game on PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. This virtual version includes Kokusai-dōri, the covered Heiwa-dōri Shopping Arcade, Makishi Public Market and the Monorail's Kenchō-mae Station.
Shuri Castle during the American invasion was recreated in Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. It is generally considered to be the fifth mainstream game of the Call of Duty series and returns the setting to World War II. The game was...
during the final stages of the game. The player must help capture the castle and it is the final level for the American portion of the story.
Naha City was prominently featured in the 1986 film The Karate Kid Part II
The Karate Kid, Part II
The Karate Kid, Part II is a 1986 American martial arts film and is a sequel to 1984's The Karate Kid. Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita reprise their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi, respectively. The original music score was composed by Bill Conti...
The name Naha was used in Microsoft's 2003 space simulation game Freelancer
Freelancer (video game)
Freelancer is a space trading and combat simulation video game developed by Digital Anvil and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game was initially announced by Chris Roberts in 1999, and following many production schedule mishaps and a buyout of Digital Anvil by Microsoft, it was eventually...
. The Gas Miner "Naha" is a station owned by the Gas Miners Guild (GMG) in the Sigma-13 system.
External links
- Naha official website
- Naha official website
- Naha-te - explains origin of Naha-te, the martial art from Naha