About halfway between the Tomari Bridge and the Asato intersection on Matayoshi Road in Naha, stands a formidable wall of stone with five entrance gates, the only remains of a sacred temple destroyed during the battle of okinawa. Sogen-ji was a temple where the ancient monarchs of the Ryukyu Kingdom prayed. Built about the time of Kings Sho Shin and Sho Sei in the early 16th century, the temple belonged to the Rinzai School of Zen Buddhism of Japan, and had formerly been determined a National Treasure.

During the reign of Sho Shin in 1527, an edict was posted at the right of the entrance of the temple on a stone column. It stated that all who passed in front of the temple on horseback should get down and walk, and in doing so, show their reverence to the powerful authority of the king.