Himeji Castle
City : Himeji
Himeji Castle is one of the most important cultural assets in Japan. It looks strong as a fortress but also has beautiful plaster wall which gives the castle the name of elegant bird, white heron.
There are towers, turrets, gates, and stone walls which are preserved for 400 years with some restoration work. So Himeji castle is a very important architecture and registered as national treasure and UNESCO world cultural heritage as well.
During the time of Civil War in 16th century and subsequent Edo period in 17th century, warlords had their castles as a military and governing center of the province and as their residence. They were designed to defend from enemies and also a symbol of the power. As time went, the number of castles was reduced by the Tokugawa government due to the administrative reason, some burned down, and at the end of the samurai period, some were destroyed and others were used as a military base of Imperial Japanese army and bombed by the U.S. As a result, there are only twelve castles today remaining in the form of the medieval era. Himeji castle is one of such and the best example of Japanese castle.
Himeji Castle :
Open : 9:00-17:00 (must enter by 16:00) Extended closing time for one hour in April 25 - August 31. | closed on Dec. 29 and 30
Admission : Y600
Access : 15 minutes' walk from JR or Sanyo Railway Himeji Station. A broad street leads straight to the castle from the station. When it rains, there is another street parallel on the east which is the roofed shopping arcade or you can take a bus.
Website : http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/foreigner/en.html
- In the castle, there are a lot of things to see such as defensive facilities and various relics and each has an English explanation board. If you see everything and read those explanations, it would take two hours in the castle.
- You take off your shoes and put on slippers to walk in the castle. You will go up and down the very steep stairs.
- They have a free guided tour in the castle by the English speaking guide http://www.himeji-castle.gr.jp/ENGLISH/visitor.htm
- There is a Japanese style garden, Koko-en, next to the castle. It's not an old one and takes about 20 minutes to see. You can skip it. But the ticket to the garden (300 yen) is sold for only 120 yen when you buy together with the castle's ticket. You can enjoy a cup of green tea and cake (500 yen) at the tea room viewing the garden. More information is on http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/koukoen/english.html
If Himeji castle is closer to other tourist sites in Kansai, it would draw more people. You may be wondering whether or not to visit there because it takes 90 minutes from Kyoto (halved to 45 minutes by using the Shinkansen train) to the Himeji station and 15 minutes walk to the castle. But there is a reason you should visit this year. Five-year-long restoration will begin in 2010.
Restoration is mainly to replace the roof tiles and replastering the walls. From April 12 in 2010, they will start building scaffold which completely covers the tower. Until the spring season of 2011, no one can enter the tower and it can't be even seen from outside by being covered halfway in June 2010 and full in September. However, from spring in 2011, they will begin the tower-viewing program using its scaffold as an observation deck. You will be able to go up 50-meter-high on the deck by the elevator and look closely at the tower's outside. The scaffold will be dismantled in 2014.
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