The first thing that greets your eyes is the broad, red-striped Una around which are positioned
the various structures that make up Shuri-jo.
The Una is an almost square, open plaza, bounded by the Houshinmon on the west side, the Seiden,
the chief royal residence, facing it, and the Hokuden and Nanden on the remaining two sides.
The plaza itself was the site of many important rituals and ceremonies, including New Year's ceremonies, and the
formal investiture of each king, for which a symbolic model of the Chinese Imperial Court throne room would be
constructed on the south side of the plaza.

Red and white tiles form ranks filling the plaza and marking where officials and aristocrats of various ranks would
stand for these ceremonies; an aisle in the tile patterns leading directly across the plaza from the Houshinmon to the
Seiden was called the ukimichi ("floating path") in Japanese, and was used only by the king, representatives
of the Chinese Emperor, and others of similar rank.