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| Himeji (姫路) is most famous for its magnificent castle, Himeji Castle, widely considered to be Japan's most beautiful surviving feudal castle. The castle is designated both a national treasure and a UNESCO world heritage site. Himeji Castle is the best example of a Japanese castle as it has never been destroyed or even damaged in war. Himeji Castle was completed in 1609, but a fort existed on the site as early as 1333. The (tower or keep) of Himeji Castle is an excellent example of the traditional wooden architecture and its stone walls with their white plastered walls. |
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| It is not hard to get to here. No matter where you are originally from, you just have to make sure you know how you get to Himeji Station first. It is not hard by the help of Google Map. So from the Himeji Station, walk towards north of the station. If you do not know where the north is, just ask the staff at the information counter. The staff in the information counter will always have basic English capability. It is just going to take about 10-15 minutes walk. |
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| There is a rafting service which circling around the castle area. The weather was too hot for me to do such activity. Please take note that, drone is not allowed at Himeji Castle. If you are caught using it, you will be prosecuted. Don't even try to attempt from far. |
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| March forward! Up we go towards the castle. The entrance fee is 1000 yen. If you combined your ticket with the Koko-en, the price will be 1040 yen. If purchased separately, the price for the Koko-en garden will be 300 yen. As for my son who is 3 years old, he is free of charge. |
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| There are lockers provided to put your luggage before you proceed to the next city. The Himeji Castle will take half of your day time so you don't have to purposely stay at Himeji city. |
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| This is the first tourist spot that we went after touch down at the Kansai International Airport for our first ever father and son vacation in overseas. |
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| Before entering the castle, we have to take off our shoes and placed it in a plastic bag which is provided by the staff. This fort was constructed on Himeyama hill by Akamatsu Norimura, the ruler of the ancient Harima Province. In 1346, his son Sadanori demolished this fort and built Himeyama Castle in its place. In 1545, the Kuroda clan was stationed here by order of the Kodera clan, and feudal ruler Kuroda Shigetaka remodeled the castle into Himeji Castle, completing the work in 1561. In 1580, Kuroda Yoshitaka presented the castle to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and in 1581 Hideyoshi significantly remodeled the castle, building a three-story keep with an area of about 55 m2 (590 sq ft). |
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| In the Meiji Period (1868 to 1912), many Japanese castles were destroyed. Himeji Castle was abandoned in 1871 and some of the castle corridors and gates were destroyed to make room for Japanese army barracks. The entirety of the castle complex was slated to be demolished by government policy, but it was spared by the efforts of Nakamura Shigeto, an army colonel. A stone monument honoring Nakamura was placed in the castle complex within the first gate, the Hishi Gate (菱の門 Hishinomon). Although Himeji Castle was spared, Japanese castles had become obsolete and their preservation was costly. |
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| When the han feudal system was abolished in 1871, Himeji Castle was put up for auction. The castle was purchased by a Himeji resident for 23 Japanese yen (about 200,000 yen or US$2,258 today). The buyer wanted to demolish the castle complex and develop the land, but the cost of destroying the castle was estimated to be too great, and it was again spared. |
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| Himeji was heavily bombed in 1945, at the end of World War II, and although most of the surrounding area was burned to the ground, the castle survived intact. One firebomb was dropped on the top floor of the castle but failed to explode. In order to preserve the castle complex, substantial repair work was undertaken starting in 1956, with a labor expenditure of 250,000 man-days and a cost of 550 million yen. In January 1995, the city of Himeji was substantially damaged by the Great Hanshin earthquake, but Himeji Castle again survived virtually undamaged, demonstrating remarkable earthquake resistance. Even the bottle of sake placed on the altar at the top floor of the keep remained in place. |
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| There are a total of 6 levels that we have to climb. The path for us to walk on and climb are very clearly instructed. There are description in Japanese language and English language which is very helpful for me to understand the history of this castle. |
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| At the top of the castle, there is a shrine where we can offer our prayer. Other than that, we can look out from the window to see the landscape view of the Himeji City around the castle. |
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| These photos are taken by my phone. The wooden windows has blocked my bulky camera from taking such picture. |
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| Otherwise, the view taken will be wider than this. |
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| After that, it is time to climb back down. My son has no problems with the stairs as he is a very careful boy. If he cannot do it, he would call for my assistance. Usually, I would want him to try before I offer my help. |
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| Honestly, I am in awe with the castle which is so majestically built. It is really an eye-opener for me. |
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| I am sure my son doesn't know what this building is about but he doesn't feel bored and very cooperative to walk throughout the entire building with me. |
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| I have arrived earlier about 10.00am to skip the crowd which comes just 10 minutes later than us. |
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| His favorite thing to do is to play with the binoculars even though he doesn't has the right height. |
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| The second thing is he was very happy with the origami that he received from a female staff. He treasured it a lot and kept playing with it. |
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| Next, we moved on to Koko-en Garden which is just a 5 minutes walk from the castle. Overall, I took about 2 hours to finish the whole tour of the Himeji Castle. It is very worth it for me to make a detour to Hyogo Prefecture just for the Himeji Castle as I am a person who loves historical buildings. If you are same like me, you would want to make your point here. |
Total Damage: 1040 yen (inclusive Koko-en Garden)
Price: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Recommended?: 3/5
Operating Hours: 9.00am – 5.00pm（last entry 4.00pm）
*9.00am - 6.00pm in summer (April 27–August 31) (entry 5.00pm)
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