#16

• Title：The Edge of Ryutan Pond

• Artist：OMINE Seikwan

This painting shows the area around Ryutan Pond, located at the foot of Shurijo Castle.

You can see the rippling surface of the water, the stone embankment covered with grass, people walking along the path, and rows of red-tiled houses—together capturing the peaceful daily life of old Shuri.

At the center of the painting stands an arched stone bridge called Yomochi-bashi.

Behind it stretches a long stone wall that once surrounded Nakagusuku Udun, the residence of the crown prince of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Both the bridge and the residence were destroyed during the Battle of Okinawa. Today, only the stone wall remains as a trace of the past.

Omine Seikwan painted this work in 1943, when the signs of war were beginning to appear.

Even so, the painting conveys a quiet, gentle atmosphere—a moment of everyday peace preserved just before the storm of war.

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