Himeji[links] October 25, 2000

Although our torrid schedule took us down to Okayama first, we never thought of giving Himeji a miss.  Backtracking was well worth it.  In our tourist book, the Himeji section was titled "Himeji: a castle town."  Make no mistake, the castle is the only game in town.

It's a cute little town, and Elaine and I were struck again by the blending of the modern and the historical in Japan.  From the moment you leave the train station you can see the castle.  It then only remains to walk toward it, wondering what it would be like to live so close to a structure like this...

I must throw in my endorsement for Himeji Castle. Particulary after the virtual rip-off of Okayama Castle, Himeji Castle was phenomenal. Once again, Elaine's journal says it best:

"Unlike the black 'Crow Castle' of Okayama, this one is white and has remained mostly undamaged. This tour was long and interesting. Twice we had to take our shoes off and carry them in plastic bags to a point where we could put them on again. I'm sure this cuts down drastically on the wear and cleaning of these neat old places. There were many info signs in English, so we could actually know what was going on. We got to climb the steep, ladder-like stairways all the way to the top 5th story. It began on a tall rock foundation, so the view from the top was great."

From the outside, Himeji is a beautiful, enormous, white structure. The tour is well worth the admission, and there is plenty of information in English. One climbs six interior levels, passing defense mechanisms such as "Oil/rock holes" and portholes for archers, as well as weapon storage areas and secret passages for soldiers.

Just outside the castle is a garden called Kokoen, and it's a very different style from all the other ones we visited.  It's divided into nine rooms (with actual walls, but no ceilings), each representing a different samurai.  The garden was built on the grounds where samurai mansions once stood.

The rooms, and each garden contained in them, vary widely in style.  One room had 15 different types of bamboo growing in it, all of them quite lovely.  There were places to rest or just look at the views throughout the garden.

The combination ticket for the castle and garden cost 1440 yen, and was very well worth it.

Having backtracked to see Himeji, we now had to get ourselves down to Shikoku.  To do that, we had to take the Marine Express from Okayama.  Unfortunately, it was dark before we got on the train, so we didn't get to see the famous bridge.  Moving on...

Off the island (of Honshu)...to Takamatsu...

Himeji Links:

[ Main Page ]

Ahh...Himeji Castle.  It's the only game in town, but it's well worth a look.  The tour took over an hour, and took us through the outer walls, all the way up the five inner floors.  That thing's a monster!

I can't even imagine having this kind of view from my house!  The way the old and new mesh together in Japan is incredible.

The nearby Kokoen garden was quite fascinating, organized into different "rooms", each dedicated to the spirit of the samurai who once inhabited the room..

Another room in the garden.  Beautiful!