Clear the Okinawa Local Quiz and earn the Okinawa Local title. Want to know Okinawa even better, or already confident? The tougher courses are next.
The tone of the sanshin, shisa guardians on the rooftops, place names like Chatan and Nakijin that defy mainland instincts. The Okinawa quiz ranges across the story of the Ryukyu Kingdom and Shuri Castle, performing arts and crafts from eisa drumming to bingata dyeing, a table set with goya champuru and awamori, and the landscapes of Yanbaru and the surrounding islands. Now and then a word of uchinaaguchi turns out to be the key to an answer. Tiers begin at the nationwide level and end with questions that reach into a shimanchu's memory. If you want to get used to the island air first, the practice questions are the natural entrance.
What is a "Shimanchu"? Uchinanchu & YamatunchuWhich king is said to have unified the three principalities (Hokuzan, Chuzan, Nanzan) in 1429 and founded the Ryukyu Kingdom?
A new question every day — the real test is the quiz itself.
Take on this quizHint: After roughly 27 years of U.S. administration.
Correct answer1972
On May 15, 1972, Okinawa returned to Japan after some 27 years under U.S. administration; the reversion agreement had been signed the year before. Okinawa Prefecture was restored that day. Yet most of the vast U.S. military bases remained in Okinawa even after reversion.
Source:沖縄返還 - Wikipedia
Hint: The royal castle of the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Correct answerShuri Castle
Shuri Castle was the seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom's politics, diplomacy and culture. Rebuilt after its destruction in the Battle of Okinawa, its main hall burned again in October 2019. Reconstruction now proceeds in full public view — a 'visible recovery' — aiming to complete the hall in autumn 2026.
Hint: Often placed as a male-female pair.
Correct answerShisa
Shisa are lion-derived guardians set on rooftops, gateposts and village entrances. Their expressions and poses vary from house to house and shop to shop, making them a familiar guardian spirit seen throughout everyday life in Okinawa.
Source:シーサー - Wikipedia
Hint: The domain of the Shimazu clan.
Correct answerSatsuma domain
In 1609 Shimazu forces invaded Ryukyu and Shuri Castle capitulated. The kingdom entered an age of dual subordination — governed by Satsuma while continuing tribute missions to China. Its royal form survived, but its trade and diplomacy now ran under Satsuma's control.
Source:首里城公園琉球侵攻 - Wikipedia
Hint: Acceded to the throne in 1470
Correct answerKing Sho En
Sho En, born Kanamaru on Izena Island, rose through service to the first Sho dynasty and took the throne after the upheaval of 1469, founding the second Sho line — the dynasty that would rule until the kingdom's end in the early Meiji era, some four centuries later.
Source:首里城公園尚円王 - Wikipedia
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