Giant "Shisa" Made with Fire-Hit Okinawa Castle Tiles in Works
Naha, Okinawa Pref., May 2 (Jiji Press)--The construction of a giant "shisa" lion-shaped traditional ornament is being planned in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa, using damaged roof tiles from Shuri Castle, which was devastated by a fire in 2019.
Mitsuo Miyagi, a 47-year-old shisa artist and organizer of the project, said that the ornament is a symbol of Okinawa and that he hopes the giant shisa will remind people of the castle in Naha, Okinawa's capital.
Eight structures in the castle, including its main hall and gate, were lost in the fire in late October 2019.
"I was shocked," Miyagi said. "But when I thought about reconstruction, I immediately thought of using damaged roof tiles."
In Okinawa, shisas are placed in pairs on roofs or at the entrances of buildings as guardians to ward off evils. Plaster shisas put on roofs are sometimes made with broken roof tiles.
(2024/05/02-17:52)
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