Shuri Castle Reopens 23 November 2026: Tickets and Fees
When the Seiden opens: 22 and 23 November
The Shurijo Castle Park Seiden public opening date announcement, dated 4 June 2026, fixed two dates. The Cabinet Office’s Okinawa General Bureau holds a completion ceremony for the rebuilt Seiden (main hall) on Sunday 22 November 2026. The hall opens for use the next day, Monday 23 November.
Plan your days around a closure. On 22 November the whole park, including the paid area and every facility, stays shut all day. The Shurijo Castle Park notice on 22-23 November closures also closes the park on the morning of 23 November for the Seiden Opening Ceremony. Okinawa Prefecture hosts that ceremony at Shicha-nu-una, the lower courtyard inside the castle walls.
On 23 November the castle opens in two steps:
- 11:15: the free area inside the castle walls opens.
- 12:00: the paid area opens, and public viewing of the Seiden begins.
The park expects heavy crowds on the first day. It says it will post details of how visitors get in that day on its website later. When we checked on 11 October 2026, the park had not yet posted those details, so look again before you go.
The opening day is Labor Thanksgiving Day, so many Japanese families have the day off too. Our page on public holidays in Japan in November also lists Culture Day on Tuesday 3 November 2026.
Earlier in the month, the 2026 Shurijo Castle Reconstruction Festival runs from Sunday 1 November to Tuesday 3 November. Its Ryukyu Dynasty Picture Scroll Procession fills Kokusai-dori on 1 November from 12:30 to 15:00. About 700 people in costume walk as the Ryukyu king and queen and the Chinese investiture envoys. Traffic restrictions on Kokusai-dori start at 12:00 that day. Our guide to Okinawa in November covers the weather and the month’s other events.
How to book a Seiden time slot
You book on Webket, the park’s official ticket sales page. Choose a visit date and a 30-minute Seiden slot, then pay. The Shurijo Castle Park fee revision and advance reservation notice limits each payment to 9 tickets. Choosing a date and time adds no fee.
Register as a Webket member before you buy. The Shurijo Castle Park Seiden ticket purchase manual walks through the screens in order. You tap the date on a calendar, then the time slot, then the ticket type and number of tickets, then pay. A “×” under a date or beside a slot means it has sold out.
The ticket you need is labelled 入場券（正殿内観覧予約あり） (nyujoken, seiden-nai kanran yoyaku ari). It means “admission ticket with a Seiden interior viewing reservation”. The manual shows the Webket screens with Japanese buttons, such as チケットを購入する (chiketto o konyu suru, “buy tickets”).
The park releases slots in blocks. The table below shows when each block goes on sale and which entry dates it covers.
| Sale opens | Entry dates covered | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sep 2026, 13:00 (phase 1) | 23 Nov to 31 Dec 2026 | Webket |
| 1 Oct 2026, 13:00 (phase 2) | 23 Nov to 31 Dec 2026 | Webket |
| 1st of the month, 2 months ahead, 13:00 | From 1 Jan 2027 | Webket |
| Same day, until 15 min before the slot | Slots still free that day | Webket or Kofukumon ticket office |
| 1 month ahead, until 15 min before last entry | Ticket without a Seiden slot | Webket or ticket window |
For 23 November to 31 December 2026, sales came in 2 phases of roughly equal size. Phase 1 opened at 13:00 on Tuesday 1 September 2026, and phase 2 at 13:00 on Thursday 1 October. From 1 January 2027, slots go on sale at 13:00 on the 1st day of the month, 2 months before the visit. Under that rule, January 2027 slots open on 1 November 2026, and February slots on 1 December.
If slots remain on the day, you can still buy online up to 15 minutes before the slot starts. You can also buy at the Kofukumon ticket office.
After paying, press the “issue individually” button to show the QR codes. Each person gets a separate QR code. Staff scan it at the Hoshinmon (Houshinmon) ticket gate and again at the Seiden entrance. You can show it printed, as a screenshot or on your phone screen. The drawing below follows those four steps.
Everyone except preschool children needs a reservation for the interior. That includes visitors who get in free and annual passport holders. Free-admission visitors must bring official ID, or they pay the standard fee.
Plans change, so note the deadlines. You can move a Seiden ticket to another date or time until the day before your visit. Refunds run until 2 days before. Both apply only to tickets bought on Webket.
Leave enough time to reach the hall. The Shurijo Castle Park Seiden interior viewing reservations page suggests a slot 40 to 50 minutes after your train reaches Shuri Station. Drivers should book 30 to 50 minutes after arriving near the park. The page breaks the walk down like this:
- Shuri Station to Suimuikan rest centre: about 20 minutes.
- Suimuikan to Shureimon gate: about 5 minutes.
- Shureimon to the ticket office and gate: about 15 minutes.
- Ticket gate to the Seiden entrance: about 15 minutes.
The park also runs a Shurijo Castle Park tickets and reservations English page. It explains both ticket types and confirms there is no extra charge for the date and time. In early October 2026 the park said the automatic translation of its website into English, Korean and Chinese was paused because of a system issue.
No reservation? What you can still see
A sold-out Seiden does not lock you out of Shuri Castle. The admission ticket without a Seiden reservation covers the whole paid area except the hall’s interior, at any time of day. With it you can see:
- The Seiden exterior: from the elevated viewing deck, completed on 1 May 2026.
- Yohokoriden and the Reconstruction Exhibition Room: displays on the rebuilding.
- Agari-no-Azana: the east lookout point.
- Nyokan Kyoshitsu: the ladies-in-waiting quarters, now Museum Shop Kyuyo.
The price is the same whether or not you go inside the Seiden. The ticket without a slot goes on sale 1 month before your visit. Sales run until 15 minutes before last entry on the day. Buy it on Webket or at the ticket window. On busy days the park may cap these tickets too.
The FAQ on the official commemorative project site, run by Okinawa Prefecture and its partners, says the same thing. If the interior is fully booked, you can still enter the paid area and see the Seiden from outside.
The photo above shows Kankaimon, one of the stone gates in the castle’s curved walls. Bought the wrong ticket? Cancel the ticket without a slot, which you can do until 23:59 on the day, and book one with a slot. If slots open up on the day, the ticket window can switch it for you. But if the slots fill while you wait in line, the change is off.
Annual passport holders may be let in without a reservation when slots are free on the day. The park says this may change with crowding.
Admission fees before and after 23 November
The park raises paid-area fees for entry from 23 November 2026. It gives two reasons: stronger fire and disaster prevention, and higher running costs from recent price rises. Because the park closes on 22 November, 21 November is the last day at the old price. The table compares the old and new rates.
| Visitor | Individual until 21 Nov | Individual from 23 Nov | Group of 20+ from 23 Nov |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | 400 yen | 1,000 yen | 800 yen |
| High school student | 300 yen | 760 yen | 610 yen |
| Elementary and junior high | 160 yen | 370 yen | 300 yen |
| Under 6 | Free | Free | – |
An adult paying alone goes from 400 yen to 1,000 yen. High school students go from 300 yen to 760 yen, and elementary and junior high school students from 160 yen to 370 yen. Children under 6 stay free. Groups of 20 or more pay 800 yen, 610 yen and 300 yen, up from 320 yen, 240 yen and 120 yen.
The drawing shows the adult change, and the Seiden is included in that price. Annual passports rise too. The general adult pass goes from 800 yen to 2,000 yen. The high school pass goes from 600 yen to 1,520 yen, and the child pass from 320 yen to 740 yen. The Okinawa resident pass costs 1,500 yen for adults. Okinawa residents aged 70 and over and visitors with a disability certificate get in free.
One saving helps visitors. Show a Yui Rail 1-day or 2-day pass at the ticket window and you pay the group rate. The Yui Rail QR 1-day ticket costs 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for children. On a busy monorail day, it can pay off here.
The ticket window takes most payment types:
- Cards: Visa (contactless supported), Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club, Discover and UnionPay.
- Transport IC cards: Suica, PASMO, ICOCA and Taiwan’s EasyCard. Our IC card guide explains where to buy one.
- Code payments: PayPay, Rakuten Pay, d-barai, au PAY, Merpay, J-Coin Pay, Alipay and WeChat Pay.
Opening hours and the least crowded times
The paid area opens at 8:30 all year. From April to November it closes at 19:00, with last entry at 18:30. From December to March it closes at 18:00, with last entry at 17:30. The free area inside the castle walls opens at 8:00 and closes at 19:30 from April to November, or 18:30 from December to March.
The last Seiden slot follows the season. From April to November it runs 18:00 to 18:29; pass the Hoshinmon gate by 18:30 and enter the hall by 18:40. From December to March it runs 17:00 to 17:29, with the gate by 17:30 and the hall by 17:40.
The park publishes a crowd forecast by time of day:
- 8:30 to 11:00: very crowded.
- Around 11:00: crowded.
- 12:00 to 14:00: less crowded.
- 14:00 to 17:00: moderately crowded.
- 17:00 to closing: less crowded.
Allow about 90 to 120 minutes from Suimuikan through the Seiden and back, depending on crowds. Inside the hall itself you spend about 15 minutes. You take off your shoes inside the Seiden, and the park’s group guidance asks visitors to bring a shoe bag.
The red-roofed Shureimon gate in the photo marks the start of the walk up. On crowded days staff may stop entry for a while for safety. The Webket site warns that heavy crowding is expected for some time from 23 November.
Group bookings for the Seiden interior are closed from 23 November to 6 December 2026. From 7 December, groups of 10 or more get slots by lottery. If you travel in December, our guide to Okinawa in December covers the weather and events that month.
Getting to Shuri Castle from Naha Airport
The Yui Rail monorail is the simplest way up. From Naha Airport Station to Shuri Station takes about 27 minutes. The official access page gives the fare as 360 yen for adults and 180 yen for children. Our Naha Airport guide lists the same ride for the castle.
The flow above traces the trip from the airport to the Seiden door. From Shuri Station, Shureimon gate is about a 15-minute walk. The official site also maps a shorter walk of about 6 minutes via Uenomo Park.
The monorail in the photo runs above the streets of Naha. Buses work too:
- Naha Bus routes 7 and 8 (Shuri Jokamachi Line): from the Shuri-ekimae stop to Shurijo-mae, a 1-minute walk from Shureimon.
- Naha Bus routes 1, 14, 17 and 346: to Shurijo-koen-iriguchi, about a 5-minute walk from Shureimon.
A taxi from Naha Airport covers about 10 km in 40 to 60 minutes. From Kokusai-dori it is about 4 km and 15 to 25 minutes. Staying near Kokusai-dori? The monorail from Naha Airport to Kokusai-dori takes 13 minutes for 290 yen.
Driving is the hard option. Parking for ordinary cars costs 500 yen for the first 60 minutes, then 250 yen per 30 minutes, up to 1,000 yen. You cannot reserve a space, and the park asks drivers to stay within 3 hours. The car park can fill up in the morning, and nearby roads jam. The park asks visitors to use the monorail or buses.
| Place | Shuri Castle Park (Shurijo Castle Park) |
|---|---|
| Price | From 23 Nov 2026: adults 1,000 yen, high school 760 yen, elementary and junior high 370 yen, under 6 free |
| Hours | Paid area 8:30-19:00 Apr-Nov (last entry 18:30), 8:30-18:00 Dec-Mar (last entry 17:30) |
| Access | Yui Rail to Shuri Station (about 27 min from Naha Airport), then about 15 min on foot to Shureimon |
| Official site | Shurijo Castle Park tickets and reservations English page |
Flying in from the mainland? Flights from Tokyo to Okinawa take 2 h 30 min from Haneda, with 35 a day. Flights from Osaka to Okinawa take 2 h 5 min from Itami, Kansai or Kobe.
From the 2019 fire to the rebuilt Seiden
Shuri Castle was the royal palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1429 to 1879. The Seiden became a National Treasure in 1925 and was lost in 1945. A rebuilt hall stood until 31 October 2019. That morning, before dawn, a fire started inside the Seiden. It burned for about 11 hours and destroyed 9 facilities, the Seiden among them. Police and fire investigators could not find the cause.
The Okinawa General Bureau release on the Seiden opening date sums up the rebuilding. The main steps:
- 27 March 2020: a ministerial council set a timetable: start main work in 2022, restore the Seiden by 2026.
- 12 June 2020: part of the paid area reopened.
- 3 November 2022: a groundbreaking ceremony started the build.
- 27 May 2024: the roof-raising, about 9 months after framework assembly began.
- 15 July 2024: tiling began; about sixty thousand red tiles now cover the roof.
- July 2025: the exterior was finished.
- 30 October 2025: the temporary protective roof came off.
- 17 September 2026: all lacquer work, inside and in both corridors, was done.
The photo above shows the Seiden in 2006, before the 2019 fire. The new hall is a three-storey wooden building with a hip-and-gable roof and tiled roofing. It covers 636.56 square metres, with 1,199.24 square metres of floor. This time it has sprinklers, cameras that turn toward a detected fire, and indoor hydrants one person can use. The main timber is Japanese cypress, and some red tiles reuse crushed pieces of broken tiles from the old Seiden.
The North Hall (Hokuden) and South Hall (Nanden) come later. The Okinawa General Bureau fiscal 2026 Hokuden and Nanden review materials place that work after the Seiden opens. They show the Hokuden still at the design stage in fiscal 2026, with no completion date given. The foundation remains under the Seiden were last shown on 22 May 2022. At the time the park said it planned to show them again after the hall was finished, but no date has been set.
FAQ
Do I need a reservation to visit Shuri Castle after 23 November 2026?
Only to go inside the Seiden. That ticket needs a date and a 30-minute slot booked on Webket. The rest of the paid area, including the view of the Seiden from the deck, needs no reservation. Everyone except preschool children needs a slot for the interior, even free-admission visitors.
How much does Shuri Castle cost from 23 November 2026?
Adults pay 1,000 yen, high school students 760 yen, and elementary and junior high school students 370 yen. Children under 6 are free. Groups of 20 or more pay 800 yen per adult, and the Seiden slot costs nothing extra.
When do Shuri Castle Seiden tickets go on sale for January 2027?
From 1 January 2027, slots go on sale at 13:00 on the 1st day of the month, 2 months before the visit. For January 2027, that is 13:00 on 1 November 2026. Buy on Webket, and register as a member first.
What can I see at Shuri Castle if the Seiden slots are sold out?
Buy the ticket without a Seiden reservation. It covers the Seiden exterior from the viewing deck, Yohokoriden, the Reconstruction Exhibition Room, Agari-no-Azana and Museum Shop Kyuyo. It costs the same as a ticket with a slot. If a slot frees up on the day, the ticket window can switch your ticket.
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