Japan's first castle, the highest masterpiece of wooden architecture, and a "city without war" that spans hundreds of years.

type

status

date

slug

summary

📝 1. History of Himeji Castle

Like many historic cities around the world, "key people" are indispensable for their rise.
Himeji Castle was originally built in 1346 by Akamatsu Sadabumi, but in the early days it was so small that it was not even a castle, but only a few buildings.
In 1467, although Akamatsu Masanori revived the Akamatsu clan and built Himeji Castle Honmaru (main castle) and other parts, Himeyama Castle was only a little 🤏 larger than before.
In 1545, the 10th lord of the castle, Kotera Norikanoshi, decided to transfer the castle to Gojo Castle, and appointed his retainer, Kuroda Kanbei's grandfather, as the castle representative of Himeji Castle.
In 1580, with the pacification of the war in Harima, Kuroda Kanbei offered Himeyama Castle to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Since then, Toyotomi Hideyoshi has become the fifteenth lord of Himeji Castle.

After Toyotomi Hideyoshi entered the castle, he underwent extensive repairs to the castle, including the construction of a triple castle tower and the change of the name of "Himeyama Castle" to "Himeji Castle", and the original form of Himeji Castle was officially formed.
Later, Terumasa Ikeda, who married Tokugawa Ieyasu's second daughter, became the lord of the Himeji domain, and began a large-scale expansion and reconstruction of Himeji Castle.
Terumasa Ikeda's miraculous blend of impregnable military defences and elegant architecture is a first of its kind in Japanese castle architecture. The Himeji Castle expansion project used 387 tons of timber, 75,000 tiles, and a large number of huge rocks weighing 1 ton. The renovated Himeji Castle has expanded to an area of about 2.3 million square meters, which is large enough to monitor the three provinces of Harima, Bizen, and Awaji, and it is said that the water in the moats of all the castles in these three countries combined is inferior to that of Himeji Castle.
In 1609, the splendid castle tower was built, and nine years later, in 1618, Himeji Castle was formed. (That's why many of the introductions say that Himeji Castle has a history of more than 400 years.)

In the more than 400 years since Himeji Castle was officially formed, Himeji Castle has miraculously survived wars and is one of the few castle towers in Japan that has survived the destruction of war.

In 2009, Himeji City underwent a large-scale renovation of Himeji Castle, and in March 2015, it was officially completed, and it has become the gorgeous and dignified Himeji Castle that everyone sees today.

🤗 2. Himeji Castle Introduction

Above we mentioned the concept of a vertical castle tower.

The center of Himeji Castle is the castle tower. The castle tower is located at the highest point in the castle and consists of a main castle tower and three attached castles.

The main feature of Himeji Castle is that the five-fold (roof) sixth-level (floor) castle tower is connected to the west small castle tower, the dry (northwest) small castle tower, and the east small castle tower, which is completely different from many castle towers in Japan.

Each of the four castle towers has multiple cornices, so you can get different views from different angles, so it is called "Happo Front", and the meaning is easy to understand, and it looks good from all angles.

Himeji Castle's castle tower is a systematic watchtower.

There are pairs of convex towers on the wall, which are interspersed with the waist eaves, overlapping and scattered. The exterior of the castle is made of thick white-plaster walls, which are not only for aesthetics, but also to improve fire resistance and bulletproofness, and the stone walls are steeply sloped, and the upper part of the stone walls is turned outward, making it difficult to climb.

Because of its high terrain, it can be seen in almost every part of Himeji City, Japan. The striking exterior with white walls plastered all over this great wooden castle resembles an egret about to fly, which is also where Himeji Castle's nickname, Egret Castle, comes from.

The intricate structure of the castle tower, especially the three-story castle tower, is connected by many pillars and a labyrinth-like curved passageway that serves as a defense against enemy invasion and chaos for the enemy army. This was designed to prevent enemies from entering the highest castle tower, as well as the fortress located in the center of the castle.

In addition to the castle tower, Himeji Castle covers an area of 107 hectares and consists of 81 buildings.

After buying a ticket at the entrance to the castle, it is recommended to go to Nishinomaru first, where you can get a full view of Himeji Castle, and the photos on the ticket and official brochure were taken from this angle.

After passing through the にの門, you will enter the paid place of the castle. After purchasing a ticket from the ticket office near the main gate (1,000 yen), you can ascend to the six-story castle tower through the narrow aisle of the castle's inner grounds.

Now you need to go barefoot the whole time when you enter Himeji Castle, and you will be provided with plastic bags for shoes, and then you will keep climbing the narrow stairs. The windows of the castle tower are small, so the inside is pitch black, but you can see a panoramic view of Himeji Castle through the windows.

When you walk around Himeji Castle, you can check out their waddang, which are black and white, like snow.

🌞 3. Ten views of Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle is home to many excellent viewpoints, and in commemoration of its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993, the local community selected the "Ten Scenic Views of Himeji Castle, a World Heritage Site.”

3.1 JR Himeji Station

Of course, there is not much to see at the station, and this place is famous mainly because you can see Himeji Castle without leaving Himeji Station.

In terms of the overall urban planning, Himeji Castle has the gate of JR Station facing Himeji Castle, and although the distance between the two places is more than 1 kilometer, there is no obstruction of the view.

The Castle View observation deck on the second floor of the station offers a view of the modern city townscape and the castle of the Edo period, and nearby Otoyama Pond Park is the perfect place to take a photo of the sunrise over Himeji Castle.

3.2 Otemae-dori

When you walk out of the North Exit of Himeji Station (Himeji Castle Exit), you will see Otemae-dori, a 50-meter wide main road that includes a wide sidewalk.

At the end of Otemae-dori is Himeji Castle's Daitenmori. From Himeji Station, you can see the south side of the castle from a distance. The grandeur of Omotesando gives you the feeling that it is close at hand. In fact, the straight-line distance from the station to Tenshou is about 1.4 kilometers. The modern cityscape and the Edo period castle complement each other, and it is listed as one of the "Ten Views of Himeji Castle, a World Heritage Site".

3.3 Sanmaru Plaza

Walking over the Sakuramon Bridge over the inner moat and through the Otemon Gate, you can see the Mimaru Plaza in front of you.

Coming to the square so close to Himeji Castle, you can clearly see the yagura, gates and stone walls surrounding Tenshou, giving you the impression that this is an "unbreakable castle". There is no admission fee, so you can come and go as you please. From sunset to 12 midnight, you can enjoy the light show from a close distance, and there are also special performances for different seasons and anniversaries.

3.4 Jomidai Park

Jomidai Park, located in the southeast of Himeji Castle, has a stone walled observatory and a large dolphin tile decorating the park.

The view of Himeji Castle from the center of the dolphin tiles is like a framed painting. The Otenmori dolphin tiles, which have been restored to life size, are a popular photo spot.

3.5 Himeji City Museum of Art

The Himeji Municipal Museum of Art, located on the east side of Himeji Castle, is a quaint red brick building built in 1905.

The building was expanded during the Taisho period and later became the Himeji City Hall office building, which was turned into an art museum in 1983. The roof of the museum is made of Japanese brick tiles and blends in with Himeji Castle behind it. Himeji Castle stands behind the red-brick museum, creating the beauty of "Japan and the West".

3.6 Shirotopia Memorial Park

Shirotopia Memorial Park is located on the north side of Himeji Castle and covers a large area, where the 1989 Himeji Shirotopia Expo was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the city.

When you go to the castle from Himeji Station, the north side is the back side of Himeji Castle, so many tourists miss the view from the north side of the tensho, but it is even more majestic with the Daisenmo, Higashi-Koi, and Kanki-Koi tenshos and the curvaceous Tabado Yagura underneath.

The yagura underneath the guardian was once used to store salt for the war effort, and is therefore also known as the "salt yagura".

3.7 Moyama Pool Park

Oyama is a hill 57.5 meters above sea level where Oyama Hachimangu Shrine, the shrine guarding Himeji Castle, is located. The steps leading up to the Oyama Water Pond Park at the top of the hill are quite steep, but it is the best viewpoint from which to appreciate the vertical tenshogakure, so why not climb up and take a look?

Centering on Kanko Tenshokaku, which is located in the northwest, the four Tenshokaku can be seen in full view, and the layout can be clearly distinguished, making Himeji Castle appear as if it were floating above a green forest.

3.8 Gyeongboksa Temple Park

From Keifukuji Park on the west side of Himeji Castle, you can see the largest of the three small temples, Qian-ko Tensho, standing side-by-side with Daitenmori. Nishi Kotenmori and Higashi Kotenmori are of equal size, but Higashi Kotenmori is slightly smaller.

During the siege of Himeji Castle by the new government troops at the end of the Shogunate period, the cannons were set up on Mt.

3.9 Egret Himeji

Facing Otemae Park in the south of Himeji Castle, Egret Himeji is a very distinctive four-story building with all-glass walls, a restaurant and cafe inside, and an observatory on the roof for a superb view of Himeji Castle, making it a super-niche photo spot.

4 Himeji Castle Transportation and Hours

From Osaka Station (Umeda), you can take the JR or Kobe Line New Rapid Direct and get there in a little over an hour.

Himeji Castle we would recommend arranging for about half a day, many of our friends say that if you go, you should go to the Good Old Gardens and the Himeji City Zoo, both of which we feel are not very good and can be left out.