The okinawa Prefectural Museum stands by Ryutan Pond. The museum is the center for preserving Ryukyuan cultural assets. The museum is surrounded by coral stone walls which have remained since 1870. Several parts of the wall were destroyed by bombs during the battle of okinawa.

The first prefectural museum opened in 1936 at the northern hall of Shuri Castle and contained about 5000 valuable cultural relics. Unfortunately, these items were destroyed during the battle of okinawa.

Immediately after the war, the United States Navy facilitated a small exhibition hall in Higashionna, Ishikawa City in 1946. The hall was later controlled by the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyus (USCAR), and it was named the Higashionna Museum. In time, Mr. Ryoken Toyohira and other Shuri residents, who returned from evacuation camps to their home towns, campaigned to collect the cultural artifacts from the destroyed Shuri Castle and preserve them in one house. The Shuri Home Town Museum was transferred to the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyus, and its name was also changed to Shuri Museum.

The Government of the Ryukyu Islands constructed the building for the museum in Tonokura, Shuri in 1957. The museum absorbed the Higashionna Museum, and the Ryukyu Government Museum was born. The present building was constructed in 1966 at the former site of Nakagusuku-udun which belonged to the Sho family, the former Ryukyuan royal family. After the Reversion in 1972, the museums name was changed to the okinawa Prefectural Museum. Today, the museum preserves 13,000 items including prefectural properties and the Omoro-soshi, National Cultural Property. The museum is the best place to be introduced to the culture of the Ryukyuan Kingdom.