HISTORY
The
cave spring Yamatogā lies north-east of the Hirara area. According to
historical records, it was excavated in approximately 1720. Around
the spring, smaller and bigger rocks are stacked up and form a wall. A
small stone stair leads down to the spring. According to spoken
history the spring was not accessible to the public, but only to a
small group of people, including the officials from Shuri (the capital
of the Ryūkyū kingdom). It is believed that once there were two guarded gates to the site.
The well is a perfect example of the excellent stonecutter-art of that time.
The
Katsu-fishtrap is situated in Katabaru-Inō bay, south of Sawada
beach on the island of Irabu. The current trap was most probably
designed
and built by Matsu Zenhira in about 1950. It runs north to
south in radial accumulated rocks. The left side is about 300m long
and the right side about 60m long. It forms an apax with an outlat at
the peak. To improve stability, the walls are made of two parallel-
built stone rows and both walls are, depending on the structure
of the seabed, 50-100cm high. The base area covers about three
hectares.
The outlet itself is about 3m wide and 50cm deep.
The trap makes use of the tidal rythm on Sawada beach. On high tide, the
fish swim into the trap and they are caught
in the nets which are installed at the outlet during low tide.
Miyako`s sovereign Nakasone Tumiyā united the archipelago of Miyako. The name "Tuimiyā" means "honored father". The tomb reflects the highly developed stonecutter-art of that time as well as the power Nakasone posessed.
During the Russian-Japanese war, five fishermen from Miyako spotted a Russian warship which approached Japan. At this time Miyako did not have a telegraph and thus the five fishermen went to the 250km distant Island Ishigaki by boat to warn the japanese mainland.
Tomori Amagā
Well
A
natural well is situated on
the border between the hamlets Sunagawa and Tomori (Gusukube village),
to the west of the Tomori-Motojima ruins. The depth from the cave
entrance to spring is about 20m. It is surprisingly big and rich with
water far a natural well of this kind.
Before
Gusukube`s households were connected to the general water supply in 1965,
this well served for 200 years as main source for drinking water and
water for daily use.
Until 1903 the people of the island were measured using this stone. People who were taller then the stones 143 cm had to pay taxes. The men payed with millet, the women with cloth.
In July 1873, the inhabitants of the hamlet of Miyaguni rescued the crew of the German schooner "Robertson", which was stranded on a reef south of the island. After about a month of recovery on the island, the eight remaining crewmen could return to Germany. Moved by the rescue of the crewmen by the islanders, the German emperor Wilhelm I. sent the warship `Zyklop` to Miyako to deliver a memorialstone. It was erected on March 20th 1878 on a hilltop overlooking the port of Hirara. The upper part of the stone describes the accident and the rescue in Chinese, the lower part is written in German.
