Sonohyan-utaki, Sacred limestone gate at Shuri Castle, Okinawa, Japan

Sonohyan-utaki is a sacred stone gate in Shuri Castle Park, in the city of Naha, Okinawa, Japan. It is built from coral limestone with sandstone trim and features two arched openings set side by side within a single carved frame.

The gate was built in 1519 under King Sho Shin as part of the royal architecture of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It was heavily damaged during World War II and later restored, eventually becoming part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Shuri Castle.

The name utaki denotes a sacred grove in the Ryukyuan religion, and the grove behind the gate is dedicated to Sonohiyabu, a deity invoked from Iheya Island, homeland of the Shō royal family. The king prayed here before every journey, and the high priestess Kikoe-ōgimi made her first prayer here upon taking office. Worshippers now pray before the closed gate, which stands in for the sacred space behind it.

The gate is easy to find within Shuri Castle Park and is accessible on foot from the main park entrance. Going early in the morning or on a weekday gives you more space to look at the stone details without crowds.

The gate was built in 1519 by the craftsman Nishitō, who had been brought to Shuri from Yaeyama after the 1500 Ōyake Akahachi rebellion. He later founded Taketomi Island's Kuninaka-utaki, which enshrines a deity invited from Sonohyan-utaki. Look closely at the stone: parts show clearly different degrees of wear because surviving fragments of the old gate were reused in the postwar restoration.