PORT OF JAPAN

Home / Ports / Naha / See

~2.5h識名園

Shikinaen royal garden

Open in Google Maps
Shikinaen royal garden, NahaNaha Okinawa Japan Shikinaen-01Naha ShikinaenNaha Shikinaen02s4s4272Naha ShikinaenNaha ShikinaenShikinaen royal garden, NahaShikinaen royal garden, NahaShikinaen royal garden, Naha1 / 9

Shikinaen royal gardenPhoto: 663highland / CC BY 2.5

Tap a photo to see it large. 9 photographs, every one credited.

Round trip
2 hr 30 min
From the ship and back
Fits
a 4.5-hour call or longer
Margin already counted
Getting there
~15 min taxi (~¥2,050)
See the rides below
Booking
Just turn up
Nothing to reserve

Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada

Why we send people here

Where the Ryukyu kings entertained Chinese envoys — a pond garden with a hexagonal Chinese pavilion and a deliberately hidden view, designed so visitors could not see how small the kingdom was.

Why it earns the hours
  • On a 4–6h ashore call our verdict is "Tight" — doable as a taxi round trip as the one outing, with a 60-minute visit, if it is not a wednesday.
Before you count on it
  • 9:00–17:30 (Oct–Mar), last entry 17:00; 9:00–18:00 Apr–Sep — closed wednesdays (the next day if wednesday is a holiday or okinawa memorial day, 23 june)..
  • 2 hr 30 min door to door needs a 4.5-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
  • It is a view, so it is weather. Check the morning sky before you commit the hours.
  • No single published ride covers this one. Budget for a taxi both ways, or fold it into a guided day.
Open the full guide →
The story

Why Shikinaen royal garden is famous

The Ryukyu royal family's second residence, built around 1799, where the king entertained Chinese envoys. The garden is a circuit style with a Chinese-roofed pavilion over the pond, and the design deliberately hides the sea so envoys could not judge the kingdom's size. It is a UNESCO site.

Shikinaen was built in 1799 as a royal villa, and the tourism page describes its purpose as entertaining the Chinese envoys (sappushi) whose visits were an important matter of state for the kingdom. It is one of Okinawa's formal garden sites, built around a large pond with a Chinese-style arch bridge and a hexagonal hall on an island.

The visit is a slow circuit of the pond. It is the opposite of Kokusai-dori: quiet, green, formal, and with the pavilion and bridge as the clear photographic set pieces. The royal-garden story is a good companion to Shuri Castle, which is the other side of the same kingdom.

The catch is access. It is not on the monorail line, so take a taxi: about 15 minutes from the Wakasa terminal, or an hour each way by monorail and taxi. It is closed on Wednesdays. Skip it on a short call; combine it with Shuri on a long one.

Before you go

Things worth knowing

  • Check the weekday: Shikinaen is closed on Wednesdays.
  • Last entry is 17:00 from October to March, so do not arrive in the last half hour.
  • Pay the full ¥400 as a visitor; the 65+ half price is for Naha residents only.
  • Agree the return taxi before you go in; the garden office number on the city's page is 098-855-5936.
Where it is

Shikinaen royal garden and your ship

Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.

The arithmetic

Where the 2 hr 30 min goes

Counted from the moment you step off the gangway, about 30 minutes after the ship arrives. The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside.

Out15 min~15 min taxi (~¥2,050)
There2 hrWhat you came for
Back15 minTo the gangway

15 minutes each way is the measured figure for ~15 min taxi (~¥2,050), not the optimistic one. If your ship is late, cut the 2 hr in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.

Asked about Shikinaen royal garden

Questions people send us

How do I get to Shikinaen from the Naha cruise port?

The simplest way is a direct taxi: about 15 minutes and about ¥2,050 from the Wakasa terminal (our map-routing estimate), similar from Shinko No.12. By public transport, ride the Yui Rail monorail to Shuri (about 14 to about 15 minutes, ¥320), then take a taxi of about 15 minutes; allow about an hour each way.

How much is Shikinaen and when is it open?

Adults ¥400 and children ¥200, 9:00 to 17:30 from October to March (last entry 17:00) and 9:00 to 18:00 from April to September. Closed on Wednesdays, and the next day if Wednesday is a holiday.

What is Shikinaen?

A royal villa garden built in 1799, used to entertain Chinese envoys, with a large pond, an arch bridge in Chinese style and a hexagonal hall on an island.

Pairs well with

What to put beside it

Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.

Build your own day
Buy downstairs, eat upstairs at Makishi, Naha4 hr for both

Buy downstairs, eat upstairs at Makishi

Okinawa's reef fish are the wrong colours — electric blue, parrot green, hard red.

See the detailGoya champuru and Okinawa soba, Naha4 hr for both

Goya champuru and Okinawa soba

Bitter melon stir-fried with tofu, egg and pork, and thick wheat noodles in pork-and-bonito broth that contain no buckwheat at all.

See the detailShisa on Tsuboya yachimun street, Naha4 hr for both

Shisa on Tsuboya yachimun street

Potters have worked this street since 1682, when the kingdom gathered its kilns here.

See the detail
The one rule: be back on board 60 minutes before all-aboard. Build the whole day on the Naha plan page.
Everything in one pageThe complete Naha guide: berth, into town, your hours, tours that fitOpen the complete guide →