A ceremony was held on Monday to mark the completion of the framework of the main hall of Shuri Castle, as part of restoration work for the fire-ravaged castle in Okinawa Prefecture.
During the upgrading ceremony, attended by about 80 people, carpenters and others dressed in traditional attire performed a ritual to mark the installation of the ridge beam on the roof, chanting prayers for the safe completion and eternal security of the building.
โI am happy and relieved to have reached this milestone,โ said Katsuaki Kondo, master carpenter at the construction company carrying out the restoration work. “There are a lot of visitors coming to the construction site and I can feel their expectations. It’s a sobering situation.”
The iconic castle in Naha is being restored after a fire in October 2019 destroyed nine buildings, including the main hall.
Shuri Castle has been repeatedly destroyed by fire and has undergone restoration work. The main building, built in 1712, was lost in the Second World War and was rebuilt in 1992. This room was destroyed by the 2019 fire.
Restoration work for the main hall started in November 2022. As part of the work, a temporary roof has been installed to keep out rain and wind.
In December last year, the three-storey timber frame of the main hall was completed, followed by the construction of the permanent roof.
The full restoration work is expected to end in 2026 after detailed work on the decoration and coating of wooden materials urushi Japanese lacquer.
