Himeji Castle

Day number four, and we were still going strong! We chose to venture out again this day, this time to Himeji, home of the aptly named Himeji Castle. This time we were travelling via the Shinkansen, the famous bullet train. They post the speed every so often on the marquee sign and I think the fastest we got was about 180 miles per hour. It's such a smooth ride and a clean train! After arriving at the train station and getting our bearings, we started walking to the castle. The castle is set high up on a hill; I'm not sure if it was a natural or man-made hill. It really is quite a sight to see the 'white heron' (as they've nicknamed it) perched up over the city, surrounded by the cherry blossoms. When we walked across the moat and through the gate there were a couple hundred people enjoying their hanami and bento under the cherry trees on the castle grounds. It's a great thing to see so many people enjoying the simple beauty of nature, although the castle in the background does give an added touch!

Himeji Castle

hanami

The castle was originally built in 1346 and the last restoration was completed in 1964. They are currently beginning more restoration work on the roof and closed the castle 6 days later; we got there just in time! We waited in line for a while to enter the castle, snapping pictures from time to time! They made us remove our shoes before entering and place them in plastic bag to carry with us. The inside of the castle was supposed to be reconstructed as it was back in the day. It was five levels, each progressively smaller than the last. The outside of the castle seems so big, but once inside you wonder where all the space is. Maybe hidden samurai rooms? Each level has a central part with a raised platform, and a surrounding walk area (that's the best way I can describe it). On each level there were racks all around the top of the wall for storing weapons, and places for samurai and other soldiers to sit and/or hide.

After viewing the castle we went to Koko-en, a recently established set of 9 gardens modeled after what would have existed during the period of the castle. Koko-en is set on the land where the Himeji samurai once lived. We had to rush through here so I didn't get to enjoy it like it should have been enjoyed!

After our walk/run through Koko-en we went over to the museum. There were no English explanations on anything, but I think what we saw was a history of the Himeji area, and a display of how they renovated the castle and the original walls, structure, etc. The girls had a bit of fun playing in the kids area which had Japanese games from back in the day.

I think these were supposed to be the original roof ornaments.

It turned out to be a very long day, but a very good one. The castle was great, and so was everything else around it. I can't believe we got to see such fantastic things, and still more days to go!