Photo/Illutration Katsue Sakuma, center, offers water she drew in Kunigami from a container wrapped in a cloth at Enkakuji temple at Shuri-jo Castle Park in Okinawa Prefecture on Dec. 22. (Shohei Okada)

NAHA--Okinawans made sure a centuries-old tradition to deliver sacred water to Shuri-jo castle for New Year’s Day ceremonies went ahead here on Dec. 22.

The ritual took place despite an Oct. 31 blaze that razed the castle's main structures, including the Seiden main hall.

Katsue Sakuma, 64, whose grandfather once carried out the ceremony, drew water from a river near a sacred place called Asumui, which, according to legend, is the birthplace of Okinawa.

She then offered the water in front of Enkakuji temple, located within Shuri-jo Castle Park.

Asumui is in the Hedo district in the village of Kunigami, located in the northernmost part of the prefecture, about 90 kilometers from the castle.

When Okinawa was an independent kingdom called the Ryukyu Kingdom (1429-1879), water called Nubi, drawn from a river in Hedo, was offered to the castle every December and used for royal ceremonies on New Year’s Day.

Even after Okinawa became a prefecture of Japan in 1879, the ceremony continued for about 450 years until 1943 by using Nakagusukuudun, the residence of a prince of the kingdom near Shuri-jo castle, as an alternate location to offer the water.

After the castle was burned down in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, the ceremony was halted.

The castle's Seiden main hall and other main structures were restored in 1992, and the ceremony resumed in 1998.

Iwao Yamashiro, 66, who runs a tourist information center in the prefecture, took part in the castle's restoration and played a key role in reviving the ceremony.

“Culture is an expression of the identity of Okinawans. Both (structures and culture) are essential to keep their identity alive,” Yamashiro said.