Chinen Gusuku is one of the best preserved castle ruins from the Nanzan Kingdom. This was Okinawa's Middle Earth era, the time of warlords, warriors, dragons and imps. As with most ruins on Okinawa, little is known about the history of Chinen Gusuku. Some blame the lack of history on the Battle of Okinawa. However, this perspective ignores 600 years of conquered kingdoms, subjugation, and assimilation that wiped out the history long before Okinawa became Okinawa.
In short, historians believe that Chinen Gusuku was built during the Nanzan Kingdom era, which was replaced by the Ryukyu Kingdom in the early 15th century. Death, destruction, carnage, and all that. The economic success of Ryukyu Kingdom invited a Japanese invasion in 1609, after which Ryukyu continued as a tributary kingdom. After the Meiji revolution in the late 19th century, Japan incorporated Ryukyu as Okinawa and began an assimilation process that ended most of Ryukyu language, culture, and history--including whatever history remained of Chinen Gusuku. All that remains are the legends of dragons and imps, and the myth making of contemporary historians.
The few bits of history known about this area are:
1) This was the home of Lord Chinen,
2) Rice cultivation was first introduced here,
3) Lord Chinen still rests here, in a cliffside overlooking his lands.
The cache is centrally located to allow an easy tour of the entire known history of Chinen Gusuku. You can tour Lord Chinen's home on your way to the cache. His castle is undergoing a painstaking restoration process. Then you will follow Lord Chinen's footsteps through a mystical forest to the cache. You can also take some side trips to see ancient wells, prayer altars, and forest. Once you find the cache, continue up the trail through the rice origin fields. The field still generates a hardy harvest of different crops; but, it's okay to pass through. On the far side of the field, you will see signs marking a trail head that will take you to Lord Chinen's current residence, a cliffside tomb.