Urasoe yōdore
Urasoe yōdore (浦添極楽山), located in a cave on a cliff to the northeast[1] of Urasoe castle on Okinawa, is a mausoleum housing the remains of three rulers of the island, along with one king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom separated from the others by several centuries.
The mausoleum was established in 1261, during the reign of Eiso, before Okinawa was divided into three kingdoms, when it was simply ruled by a network of local chieftains under the leadership of one head chieftain or "king". Eiso and two of his successors are entombed at Urasoe yōdore, in sarcophagi of a Chinese diorite stone[1]; statues of the bodhisattvas Kannon and Jizō stand inside the cave[2].
More than 300 years later, King Shō Nei requested to be buried at Urasoe and not in the Shō family royal mausoleum of Tamaudun. His reign had seen the invasion of Ryukyu by forces from Japan's Satsuma province, and the subjugation of the kingdom to Satsuma's suzerainty, and thus it is believed that he felt he had dishonored his family and his kingdom, and was not worthy of being buried with his ancestors[3].
References
- ^ a b "Urasoe yôdore." Okinawa Konpakuto Jiten (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). Ryukyu Shimpo. 1 March 2003. Accessed 25 September 2009.
- ^ Shinzato, Keiji et al. Okinawa-ken no rekishi (沖縄県の歴史, "History of Okinawa Prefecture"). Tokyo: Yamakawa Publishing, 1996. p36 (Appendix).
- ^ Kerr, George. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. Revised Edition. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. pp165-166.