TOKYO: A fire tore through World Heritage-listed Shuri Castle in Japan’s southern island of Okinawa on Thursday, reducing the main hall of the more than 500-year-old landmark to a charred skeleton.

The wooden castle, once a palace and cultural heart of the Ryukyu Kingdom which flourished from the 15th to 19th century, burned for around 12 hours until firefighters brought it under control in the afternoon.

The castle has been damaged by fire and rebuilt several times. It was last destroyed during World War 2, and its restoration was a symbol of recovery for Okinawa, which suffered heavy casualties as a site of heavy fighting between US and Japanese forces.

Television showed local residents and tourists, some praying and in tears, watching as smoke billowed from the remains of the once bright-red castle.

The city’s fire department said that while the castle had exterior sprinkler systems, its halls were not so equipped as this was not required under local fire codes.

After World War 2, it served as a university campus until the mid 1970s. Following post-war reconstruction, it re-opened as a national park in 1992 and was designated a World Heritage site in 2000.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2019