Yesterday we took a day trip to Himeji, about an hour west of Kyoto via bullet train.
This was our first time riding a Hikari series train, which is slightly slower than the Nozomi we usually ride, and the (first class) cabin felt a little more modern.
The seats even had a heating option! Once again there were very few people in the reserved-class car, probably because the comfort level of normal seats is already very high.
We went to Himeji to visit the very famous castle, considered the best and most beautiful in Japan! It’s known as the ‘white heron castle’ so it was very appropriate that a white heron flew in and posed for the above photo!
Visitors can enter and climb the main keep to the very top and there’s a lot of historical info to read on the way. There are apparently 198 (steep!) steps between the six floors and the handrails are very important since the wood is slippery and you’re only wearing socks since shoes are prohibited.
That’s a view of Himeji city from the second highest floor. As with European castles the location was chosen to be easily defendable and the garrison (the main keep was mainly a fort) would have been able to see for miles in every direction.
There are other buildings to visit, including the residence of a princess built up on the battlements, and everything is presented very well and kept in immaculate condition. About every fifty years the castle undergoes extensive restoration, and we were both amazed to read that in the 1950’s it was entirely dismantled and rebuilt to repair the wooden internal structure. At that time they found inscriptions on some of the wooden beams made by the original builders over 350 years prior!
I’ve been to many castles over the years and Himeji was one of the best. The train trip was fun, the weather great and the castle both impressive and very pretty. It was a great day trip 🙂
wow the castle is so pretty and weather is beautiful!!