Himeji Castle: The White Heron
January 03, 2006
One of the few remaining historical structures that wasn’t firebombed in WW2, Himeji Castle was built in 1346 and was consequently upgraded by the Toyotomi and Tokugawa Shogunate as a defensive fort against local Daimyo uprising. Today it is regarded as Japan’s most spectacular and well-preserved castle. The castle is also known as the White Heron due to the white plaster used on the walls and because it’s supposed to look like a heron in flight. Those guys were smoking something good when they thought of that. It is also another UNESCO world heritage site.
For some reason I always thought it was really far away from Osaka and thus had planned to save it for a bigger trip out to Hiroshima or something. It wasn’t until people at work started talking about it as a weekend trip till I clued it.
The rock walls were a good 10-15 meters tall.
It’s about an hour walk through the castle grounds if you stick to the signs with red arrows. You’ll be taken through a series of walls and outer quarters. There’s one section with several rooms followed by a Lady’s Quarters and then Princess Sen’s Vanity Tower. You’ll have to take off your shoes through this area and wear slippers provided for free. Through these quarters and the castle you’ll see many different shaped holes in the walls. The signs say they’re used to shoot arrows, guns, and throw boiling water or oil to thwart intruders. There were many of these holes everywhere.
There were many of these kinds of holes in the walls
The castle interior seems to have been untouched, aside from the usual handrails, window covers, and other safety features common to tourist attractions. I understand why they close fairly early as there are NO electric lights at all inside. The bottom floors were quite dark and uninteresting but as you climb the 7 floors it gets brighter and more luxurious looking (damn those picky daimyo lords). There are a few English displays of artifacts but nothing too interesting aside from some firearms and weapons/armor. It was much more interesting to go through this castle than seeing the museum inside Osaka Castle as this gave a better feeling of the lifestyle at the time this castle was used.
My favorite thing in the castle was one of the wells. The sign beside it told a story of a failed assassination that ended with some lady (princess?) being killed and thrown into the well. Apparently her voice was heard on some nights saying, “One piece, two piece, three piece”. After she was enshrined at a temple though the voices stopped. Sorry, both the lady and I didn’t read the sign carefully enough to find out why she counted pieces. I’m hoping it was something gruesome like she was chopped into three pieces and she was counting the chunks.
Admission is 600yen and it’s open from 09:00 to 16:00, it closes at 17:00 between June and August.
Beside the Castle is Kokoen garden (Admission: 300yen). Built in 1992 to celebrate Himeji’s 100th year as a municipality. This Japanese-style garden has several gardens (pine tree, bamboo, etc.) and is built on lands where samurai made residence. My favorite was a small waterfall and koi pond. You can enjoy hot green tea at the tea house while looking out at the garden. I would recommend this garden during the spring when flowers are actually in bloom. We went and saw a cold barren backyard. Tip: You can save 20% on admission fees if you purchase a castle and garden combination ticket available at the counters.
Kokoen garden: a waterfall
Kokoen garden: a stone bridge
Kokoen garden: the lady owed me an ugly picture.
Suggestions
On the train ride there check out the Akashi suspension bridge that links Honshu island with Awaji island. The bridge comes into view about 5mins after Akashi station.
It was a quite windy and cold when we went but it was bearable for me. However to get your money’s worth in Kokoen garden, visit in the spring.
Look at my lovely pictures or visit the official site (English) and go through their virtual tour.
Directions
From Osaka station, take the Tokaido-San-Yo Line Special Rapid (1450yen / 58min) to Himeji station. Depending on where you are it might be easier to take the same train from Amagasaki station in Hyogo as well.
January 15th, 2010 at 10:33
what was the castle used for?