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A tale of two castles
Story written 9 October 2008
Two castles, One man, and a tale of intrigue. And its all true, at least that's what the legends say.
The East Wall
It doesn't really look that imposing from this angle but the walls are built atop 300 foot cliffs. Anyone foolish enough to attack from this side would be exhausted by the time they reached the base of the walls.
Though I didn't like the light from this angle, I couldn't resist this shot of the serpentine wall as it hugged the top of the ridge. My one mistake, not rotating the polarizer when I rotated the camera 90 degrees.
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Stranger at the Gate
A visitor enters at the back gate of Nakagusuku Castle. The morning light made the shadows deeper and the bare tree limbs bove made this shot look rather foreboding. I still had my circular polarizer on and that made the colors more vivid and the shadows even darker than they actually were.
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Ore the Ramparts we watched
The clouds didn't quite cooperate the way I wanted them to but I was able to snap a few shots like this with these cotton candy like couds drifting gently over the castle walls. On days like today, I just loved having a circular polarizing filter on hand. The colors came out so much more vivid as a result. I didn't even have to adjust anything on any of these pictures in this story.
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Castle Keep
Just inside the back gate, visitors can look up and see the massive stone monlithic walls of this ancient fortress. Those steps are killer. Okinawan people are considerably shorter on average than the average American like myself. These steps are higher/bigger than they look from here.
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The back door
To visit Nakagusuku Castle, visitors must enter the back gate which faces the north. This shot is taken from the parade field where the lord of the manner trained his troops for battle.
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Castle in the Clouds
Nakagusuku Castle "ponounced knock-a-goose-koo" in central Okinawa is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the setting for one of the biggest historical dramas of the Kingdom age.
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Commanding view
Though I didn't quite get the effect I wanted out of this shot, I did recreate what the view from the ramparts of Zakimi Castle must have resembled. By getting down low here, I got all of the modern buildings in the distance out of view but didn't get the effect from the light I wanted. It's all a learning experience.
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Morning clean up
Children from a local school are made busy cleaning up the grounds around Zakimi Castle.
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Reverse Angle
A look out the main gate from Zakimi the castle keep. In the distance are the sugar cane fields of Yomitan Village and the East China Sea.
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Keith Graff has been a member since 7 April 2008 and goes by docgraff.
Currently in Okinawa.
A retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer living as an expatriate in the "Goya Republic." I love this place for it's rich history, culture, and natural beauty. Presently, I do freelance writing and photography for local publications.
A writer first and photographer second, my passion is the photo essay. I select the photographs I post on this and other sites to tell a story. Hence, even though I'm still a hack wannabe, you're better off reading my stories first and viewing the pictures second.
You can also find Keith at www.goyarepublic.com.
