Japan · Okinawa
Where to Stay in Uruma, Okinawa
Uruma is a city on the Katsuren peninsula of central Okinawa, Japan, guarded by an old Ryukyu castle above the sea.
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Where to stay in Uruma
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Where you stay in Uruma turns on the coast or the islands. The town along the shore keeps the shops, the harbours, and the castle within reach, and staying by the coast suits anyone here for the city. The warm sea laps the shore.
Rooms look out on the water. Out across the sea road lie the little islands, quiet and green. A room on the isles trades the town for the beaches, the reefs, and the slow life of the sea.
The blue shallows spread past the edge. If you want the shops and the castle, stay on the coast; if you want the beaches, take a room on the islands. Either way, the sea is close at hand.
About Uruma
Uruma is a seaside city of old Ryukyu castles.
What is Uruma known for?
On a headland above the East China Sea stand the ruins of Katsuren, a stone castle of the Ryukyu lords, and from the shore a long sea road runs out over the water to a string of little islands, while the city keeps the drums of the eisa dance alive. The blue sea rings the peninsula. Castle and sea mark the city.
What are the main landmarks in Uruma?
Katsuren Castle stands on a headland above Uruma. The old stone gusuku of the lord Amawari, ringed by walls of coral rock, looks out over the sea, the emblem of the city, from its ridge. A long sea road runs offshore.
The Kaichu-doro crosses the shallows to a string of little islands, while old shell mounds and the drums of the eisa dance keep the island's past.
What is the history of Uruma?
Uruma grew on a coast of old Ryukyu lords. Long before the islands were one kingdom, chieftains ruled from stone castles on the heights, and on the Katsuren headland the lord Amawari built a great gusuku above the sea. His castle grew rich on trade.
Katsuren traded with China, Korea, and the lands of the south, and its lord grew so strong that he rose in revolt against the king at Shuri, before he fell. The kingdom brought the coast under one crown. When the Ryukyu kings united the islands, the old castles were left to fall quiet, and the people lived by fishing, farming, and the sea.
War came hard to Okinawa. The great battle of 1945 swept the island, and afterwards new towns and bases spread across the land, until several merged to make the city of Uruma. The old castle still stands on the height.
Uruma keeps its castle and its sea roads on Okinawa.
Where is Uruma?
Uruma lies on the Katsuren peninsula of central Okinawa in southern Japan. The city spreads over a low green headland and the flat land behind it, between the East China Sea and the Pacific, its shore fringed with coral and small islands. Warm sea rings the land.
A sea road runs out to the isles.
What is the climate of Uruma?
Uruma has a warm, humid subtropical climate. Hot, wet summers and mild winters cross the islands, and typhoons sweep the sea in late summer, while the winters stay soft and green. Sea winds cool the shore all year.
The subtropical warmth holds through the seasons.
How do you get to Uruma?
Uruma lies on the east coast of central Okinawa near Okinawa City. The island expressway and the coast road run to it from Naha and the airport in the south, and a sea road crosses to the offshore islands. Buses reach the island towns around.
Most arrive by road from Naha.
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Updated August 2026