Reposted from BBC News

Firefighters battled the flames for more than 10 hours, extinguishing them by Thursday afternoon. No injuries have been reported so far.

The wooden castle, built 500 years ago, was almost completely destroyed during World War Two.

The current structure is a reconstruction.

The castle served as a campus for Okinawa's largest public university until the 1970s, and has been a popular tourist attraction since.

Razed to the ground

The fire started just before 02:40 local time on Thursday (17:40 GMT Wednesday). It is still unclear what might have triggered it. 

More than 100 firefighters were called to the scene, but one police officer said fire fighters struggled to contain the fire due to strong winds.

"The many wooden structures and the [recently reapplied] lacquer may have also had an effect," the unidentified officer told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

The fire was eventually put out at around 13:30, but all seven key buildings of the castle were burnt down.

Shuri Castle, which was was once the seat of the Ryukyu dynasty, sits on top of a hill overlooking the city of Naha - Okinawa's capital - and is surrounded by curved stone walls.

One resident said the castle was seen as "god-like".

"To us, the Shuri Castle is a god-like existence," 84-year-old Toyoko Miyazato told the Asahi Shimbun. "I am so sad I don't know what to say."

The city will now "do everything in [its] power" to deal with the fire and its aftermath, its Mayor Mikiko Shiroma told public broadcaster NHK.  

According to Okinawa's tourism site, the castle burned down three times during the Ryukyu Dynasty and was again destroyed in World War Two during the Battle of Okinawa.

Until Thursday's incident it was the largest wooden building in Okinawa.

The castle had been scheduled as a stop on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic torch relay route. 

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