[8] In 1889, the governor of Okinawa requested the establishment of a kokuhei chūsha, not only "to cultivate the spirit of reverence and respect", but also on the grounds that this would be "invaluable in the government of the prefecture".

In 1910 it was proposed a new prefectural shrine (県社, kensha) be established in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of the ascension to the throne of the Meiji emperor.

In 1915 the prefectural government proposed to the Home Ministry the foundation of a shrine dedicated to Shō Tai, Amamikyo and Shinerikyo; this was rejected on the grounds that the central figures of the Ryukyuan creation myth were not part of the Shinto pantheon.

Despite the appeal of Higashionna Kanjun to the mayor of Shuri, work was already underway when Kamakura Yoshitarō (鎌倉芳太郎) approached Itō Chūta to help save the site.

The pair visited Okinawa together before the prominent architect, a member of the Committee for the Preservation of Ancient Shrines and Temples, declaring the castle the "representative work of Ryūkyūan architecture", intervened to secure an emergency designation under the Historical Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, and Natural Monuments Preservation Law.