Blaze devastates UNESCO-listed Shuri castle complex on Okinawa

AFP

A MAJOR fire devastated a historic Japanese castle on the southern island of Okinawa on Thursday's morning, destroying large parts of the World Heritage site’s complex, local authorities said.

The Shuri castle is a key part of a complex dating back to the Ryukyu Kingdom and is believed to have been in use from around the 1400s.

Most of the current structures are reconstructions based on original plans and photos of the old castle.

Firefighters battled the blaze for about 12 hours.

The fire was brought under control by early afternoon, a local fire department spokesman said, adding that the blaze had consumed more than 4,800 square meters of the castle complex.

“All the (three) main buildings have burnt down, with nothing left behind,” said Daisuke Furugen, another official of the Naha fire department.

On the scene, a local fire official said the blaze had proved extremely difficult to control.

“The radiant heat was very strong. Firefighters had serious difficulty approaching it,” he said.

It was not yet clear what caused the blaze, which was reported to authorities around 2:40am. There were no reports of injuries.

Reuters

The fire started in the elaborate main building of the complex, a grand red structure with traditional tiling on the roof, and spread quickly to nearby buildings.

Television footage showed large orange flames engulfing the castle before sunrise, with daylight revealing the extensive damage done to the site. In some cases, only charred and smoking wood was left behind.

“I am extremely saddened by this. I am utterly in shock,” Naha Mayor Mikiko Shiroma told reporters.

“We have lost our symbol.”

“Naha city will make our greatest possible efforts to do everything in our power” to deal with the fire and its aftermath, she pledged earlier, during an emergency meeting on the fire.

The national government pledged it would make “all efforts” to rebuild the site.

“It’s sad. It’s hard to put the feeling into words,” a local resident told NHK.

“I feel hollowed out ... It’s been a symbol of Okinawa.”

Preparations for an ongoing festival at the site had been ongoing until 1am. But it was not clear if there was a link.

AFP

The complex was largely destroyed during World War II, when the headquarters of the Japanese army was dug underneath the monument.

But it was extensively restored, with the work on the main hall based on scale drawings and photographs taken before the destruction, as well as extensive archeological excavation.

The complex reopened as a national park in 1992.

Thanks to the faithful nature of the reconstruction, the site along with the remaining ruins was registered along with other Ryukyu sites in the region as a World Heritage Site in 2000.

“Five hundred years of Ryukyuan history (12th-17th century) are represented by this group of sites and monuments,” UNESCO said.

“The ruins of the castles, on imposing elevated sites, are evidence for the social structure over much of that period, while the sacred sites provide mute testimony to the rare survival of an ancient form of religion into the modern age.”

The Olympic torch relay for next year’s Tokyo Summer Games was due to pass by the site as it travels around Japan in 2020.