Usuku-ga is a communal well located down to the west from almost the center on the slope of Kinjo-cho, Shuri. It is unknown when it was constructed. According to the legend, a long time ago, the area near this well was a cove. The water in the well used to be salty, so it was called “Usukumi-ga River (salt water fetching water)” and accented speaking made the name sound like Usuku-ga.

Basic information

Address

903-0815 2-50 Kinjo-cho Shuri Naha Okinawa

TEL

098-917-3501　(English is not supported） Municipal cultural property division of Naha city

Business hours

Nothing in particular

Close day

Nothing in particular

Charge

Free

Parking

None

Access information

Take the "Yui Rail" from Naha Airport. A 19-minute walk from the Shuri station. By bus, take the #4 or #15 and get off at the Ishitatami Iriguchi bus stop. A 6-minute walk away.

Additional Information

Academic information

Cultural property(Municipal designated historical site)
Designated date: August 25, 1988
Usuku-ga is a communal well located down to the west from almost the center on the slope of Kinjo-cho, Shuri. It is unknown when it was constructed. According to the legend, a long time ago, the area near this well was a cove. The water in the well used to be salty, so it was called “Usukumi-ga River (salt water fetching water)” and accented speaking made the name sound like Usuku-ga.
The slope was dug to have an L-letter-shaped well; the opening of the well was dug vertically to get a half-moon shape, and the inside was plastered with stone walls. The arch of this half-moon shaped opening was piled with earth-retaining stone walls, and the arch had a depression to the front center, inside the walls, for placing an incense burner; the quarter phase of this half-moon shape is used for a stone-paved open space for fetching water.
At the corner of the space, a closed conduit was built. From both sides of stone walls of the mouth of the well, square stone polls protrude face to face. On the stone polls, a bar must have been fixed. This well has an abundance of water and was used for drinking water. Water overflow from the well was used for irrigation water for Shimunta (taro field) stretching around the foot of the slope. Still now Usukumi-ga is a place of worship for folk beliefs about water, and the well tells of a deep relationship with local people in the long history of it.

Quote

Naha Board of Education Cultural Heritage Division (2007) "Naha Cultural Property" Naha Board of Education