Himeji, a Japanese national treasure, an impressive castle

This is another example of how my trip was influenced by a travbuddy blog! I saw it and wanted to visit the castle, I didn't even know they had castles in Japan before... Since Himeji is on the way from Hiroshima to Kyoto, we had mapped it out and to make a stop in Himeji for the day before continuing to Kyoto, instead of going to Kyoto first, then make a day trip back to Himeji.

In Japan, it seemed all the train stations have lockers of various sizes so it was convenient to put our luggege in the lockers and then be free to walk around Himeji. The castle was only a short walk from the train station, really easy to make the trip. Basically we could see it in the distance on a bluff and it was straight down the main street in front of the train station, we couldn't get lost!

We took a leisurely walk toward the castle because I had planned to spend about 6 hours here. If you had less time, it would be not as leisurely but still doable, but we were glad to have this much time.

There was a shopping area with lots of interesting looking stores right across from the castle, and we decided to pay them a visit on the way back. The castle was real impressive looking even from a distance. There was a moat and a bridge took us over to the big gate which was the main entrance to the castle area. It was like a park with a lot of land surrounding the castle and its inner walls and baileys. There was a garden between the outer wall and the inner gate, I suppose it would have been real pretty if the peonies were blooming, but it was too early in the season, so we kept walking toward the inner gate where you buy the tickets.

Himeji castle dating back to the 14th century is the grandest of 12 remaining feudal castles left in Japan, and is now a UNESCO world heritage site. Its white walls and graceful rooflines are its signature looks. The inner walls of the castle formed several irregular baileys. The labryinths of gates and passageways were meant to confuse enemies in case they broken in, but was never put to the test. On top of the west baily walls were living quarters for the soldiers, maids for the castle etc, but also included a vanity tower at its corner for a princess! The main tower  contained 6 floors and a basement. where armaments were stored. The tower had been restored to its splendor, the floors were shiny wood and visitors had to remove their shoes to enter. Some floors had displays of paintings and artifacts from the shogun days. On display were also a model of the main tower used by the restorers, all made of wood.

The charm of the castle was not just in the main tower, which was quite a sight from any angle, but walking the grounds through the various baileys and gates and passageways were part of the experience.

After climbing all the way to the top and had a look around, we left the main tower and visited the so called Suicide Quarter, where supposedly was the place to commit ritual suicide. But again, it was never known to actually have been used for that purpose.

We left the castle ground, and went around the outside to a very nice Japanese garden. It was actually a great garden with many sub-gardens, each with its own theme. There were ponds, waterfalls, running streams, tea garden, flowering cherry blossoms and other flowers. Very pretty and relaxing to walk around.

On the way back to the train station, we stopped to visit the shops across from the castle. They had food samples for all the goodies, and we had some very tasty seaweeds (almost tasted like jerky).

We retrieved our luggage from the lockers and got back on the train for Kyoto, which was only less than 1 hour away.