NAHA, OKINAWA PREF. – Coins issued in ancient Rome have been excavated from the ruins of a castle in a city in Okinawa Prefecture, the local education board said Monday, the first time such artifacts have been recovered from ruins in Japan.
The education board of the city of Uruma said the four copper coins believed to date back to the Roman Empire in the third to fourth centuries were discovered in the ruins of Katsuren Castle, which existed from the 12th century to the 15th.
Okinawa’s trade with China and the Southeast Asian region was thriving at the time and the finding is “precious historical material suggesting a link between Okinawa and the Western world,” the board said. Read more.
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