Tamaudun (Izena)

What Tamaudun on Izena Island Is

Tamaudun (玉御殿) on Izena Island is a royal tomb of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Izena Village, Shimajiri District, Okinawa Prefecture, given its present stone form in 1688 and designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan on 31 July 2017. It is the resting place of Shō Shoku (尚稷) and others of his family; Shō Shoku was the father of King Shō En, the first ruler of the Second Shō Dynasty of Ryukyu. Locally it is known as Izena Tamaudun, and on this site it is listed as Tamaudun (Izena).

Izena is a small island off the northwest coast of Okinawa Island, remembered as the birthplace of Shō En. Tamaudun sits at the northern foot of a rocky hill that juts out from the island's southeast corner, with the ruins of Izena Castle on the summit. The hill rises right behind the tomb, and the burial chamber is built hard against its bedrock.

The designation covers two structures: the stone burial chamber and the stone enclosure wall, or sekishō, that frames its front and sides. The owner is Izena Village. Visitors should not confuse Izena Tamaudun with the royal mausoleum in Shuri, Naha, whose name is also read Tamaudun but is written 玉陵; they are separate sites.

Why Tamaudun Was Designated

Tamaudun was designated an Important Cultural Property in 2017. The Agency for Cultural Affairs values it as a Ryukyuan royal tomb whose construction date is firmly known, and as a clear example of the tomb forms and building techniques particular to the Ryukyu region. It was designated under the criterion for works that stand out for regional character.

The chamber is built of Ryukyu limestone. A ridge beam cut from stone carries flat slabs laid as a gabled roof, finished over with Shikkui lime plaster. This house-shaped type is known as a hafu-baka, or gable-roofed tomb, one of the classic forms of the Okinawan family tomb. Inside, the chamber is divided into an east room and a west room.

Local tradition traces the first tomb here to the reign of King Shō Shin (1477 to 1526). The chamber and wall seen today were completed in 1688, the 27th year of the Kangxi era, and the Agency gives that year as the date of construction. What makes Tamaudun significant is that a royal tomb of known date survives on the remote island the dynasty came from.

What to Look for at Tamaudun

From the front, a flight of stone steps rises to the sekishō, which runs across the site with an arched gateway at its centre. The Agency records the wall as 36.9 metres long, gateway included. The gabled chamber sits within it, the triangular line of its roof showing above the wall.

Notice how differently the stone is handled. The enclosure is tightly coursed limestone, while the chamber roof is a skin of flat slabs running down from the stone ridge on both sides, the joints sealed with plaster. Where the chamber meets the hill behind, you can see how the builders took the natural rock into the tomb itself.

According to the Izena Island Tourism Association, the east room holds stone zushi (ossuary caskets) carved from diabase brought from China, and Izena Village lists these two caskets among its cultural properties. The interior is not normally open, so a visit means reading Tamaudun from the outside.

Visiting Tamaudun

The Izena Island Tourism Association states that the grounds of Tamaudun are open to visit freely, with no fee and no booking, and that free parking space is available nearby. The burial chamber cannot be entered. This is still a place of ancestral worship for the royal line, so stay off the wall and steps and keep voices low. No official source addresses photography. There is no lighting at the site, so come in daylight.

Izena is reached by ferry from Unten Port in Nakijin Village, northern Okinawa Island. According to the tourism association, the drive from Naha Airport to Unten Port takes about 1 hour 30 minutes, and the ferry Izena Shoen crosses in about 55 minutes with 2 to 3 sailings a day. Foot passengers do not need to book; vehicles do. From Nakada Port, where the ferry docks, Tamaudun is about 5 minutes by car. Sailings are cancelled in rough weather, so check the day's operating status before setting out.