Ouch
It was a pre Japanese Ryuku shrine, previously raised during WWII
That’s a shame, but as it was razed to the ground in WW2 and was then rebuilt it’s not really 500 years old.
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I visited here in 2014. It really sucks this happened as it was unique even amongst Japanese temples, as it was built according to the native Ryukyu culture.
It’s really not a good year for world heritage sites burning down. 
They can rebuild it, but it’ll take a number of years.
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While this is true, priceless artifacts within the temple were still lost forever.
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And the castle was built with wood from Taiwan, so a little bit of Taiwan burned as well.
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Read in news that the wood for the temple came from Yilan.
Seems lots of Japan temples used Taiwan wood for main pillars.
The Japanese brought a lot of wood out of here, while strictly controlling cutting at home. Their forest management system goes back hundreds of years, but a colony is a colony
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that was one reason they were so glad to colonize Taiwan in the early 1900s. many Japanese temples had long overdue main beam replacements finally realised with massive Taiwan-sourced cedars.
the Shuri castle was used by Japanese military as HQ in Okinawa during WW2, hence the intense attention it received. the entire complex upper parts (wooden) were burnt, and much of the stone foundation work was destroyed as well.
the site became the original home for the University of the Ryukyus under the American occupation forces, until the late 1960s when a new site was found for the university about 10 km further north. That then freed up the site for extensive ground rebuilding, find many of the original stones and returning them to their original position or cutting new ones. Then the wooden superstructure was rebuilt over 20 years, finally reopening in 1992.
it was given World Heritage status in 2000 or 2002 or so, about the same time a lot of other castle sites (stone walls and foundations only, no wooden superstructures at all) in the area were added to the register as well. some of these were completely original, only needing to be dug out of the jungle, but most have been very much rebuilt from extant or new stone as well. archaeology research is ongoing at two of the most interesting sites (Katsuren and Nakagin). One factoid is that a couple of Roman coins were recently dug up at the Katsuren castle, built and then abandoned by Amawari in just a few short years in some very interesting times politically in the Ryukyu kingdom consolidation.
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I visited before 2010. It was a beautiful and serene place.
like dis if u cry every tiem ;_;
but nah i was there a year ago it was pretty cool. that’s a shame. I guess this is proof Jesus is Korean
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Honestly the Japanese do need a limpia. So many unfortunate events this year, between appalling crimes, natural disasters and plain horrible accidents, seriously.