Wednesday October 8, 2025

On our way home from dinner last night it appeared as if we were on a flight path for storks. We were near two small ponds and they were landing by the dozen, along with small white egrets.

We had a breakfast of champions of avocado and egg on wholewheat bread. I know it sounds like a week-end breakfast at home. We had purchased the items from the supermarket last night and ate in our room.

We headed out at 8:45. We stopped at one of the two ponds which had a mass of egrets and Japanese storks.

Our route to Himeji was short and we followed either Highway 2 or 250 most of the way. It was not a very exciting route. We stopped at 11:00 for something to eat and then we headed to the Castle at Himeji. This one of five National Treasures.

This was the best castle to date. The grounds are extensive and the castle was stunning from the outside. It was very busy with a lot of tourists and school groups. The English information brochure has so much information in it, I had to go through and pick out the pertinent information.

Himeji castle known as the White Heron castle, for its soaring keep and brilliant white plaster walls, it is Japan’s most visited castle. The main keep was built in 1601 and is one of the oldest surviving Castle Keeps in Japan.

Because the castle was never besieged, bombed or burned, more of Himeji’s building have survived to the present date than those of many other Japanese castles. In order to preserve this National Treasure for future visitors the castle’s keeps, gatehouses, and towers have undergone regular restoration since the early 1900’s.

Most of Himeji castles buildings were ostensibly for warfare, try counting the nearly 1000 gun and arrow slits that line the castle walls. But the castle was never attacked, instead the castle functioned mainly as the centre for administration and the home of Himeji’s daimyo.

One part of the castle (the west Bailey – Long Gallery) was dedicated to Princess Sen who was a Grandaughter to the Shogun Tokugawa leyasu (1543-1616). She married the lord to the Honda clan, the lords of Hemiji. Her quarters were extensive, and it was estimated that she had over 100 ladies in waiting.

One of the interesting things about the castle was that the visitors were directed in one direction, guided by arrows and the occasional guide preventing you from going back. There was one-way up the stairs and another way down. There was very little congestion.

I had to smile at this older couple. This was about the fourth flight of stairs we had to climb. The older lady was carrying the back-pack and she had a walking stick, her partner had hold of the handle of the back pack giving her a helping hand by lifting the back pack and her, up the stairs.

From one view of the castle it shows the longest bay window of all the castles in Japan. From the inside of the castle the Samarui could shoot arrows from this window.

The shachihoko tiles on the roof of the Himeji castle represent mythical fish like features believed to possess the power to ward of fires by spouting water. These decorative figures act as talisman, protecting the castle from theats with Himeji’s being a rare example of all having closed mouths. The fish tiles weighed 250 kgs and 190cms tall.

Throughout the castle there was lots of information in English. There were examples of the joinery used in some of the restoration work.

The picture on the right shows some markings. I think they were 1600 century grafitti. The general consensus is that these were markings possibly of where the rocks came from, the stone mason or rocks indicating who donated them.

Some areas warned you of low beams, no worries, I didn’t have to duck once.

We spent almost 4 hours at the castle. Then we headed to the hotel which was less than 2 kms from the castle.

We have dinner and breakfast included, the dinner left a lot to be desired but it was filling and we didn’t have to go and search for a restaurant. After dinner we planned the route towards Setouchi and found a reasonably priced hotel in Hisane called the English Club.

I then went to the Onsen. It wasn’t too hot, and I spent about half an hour relaxing.

A good end to a lovely day.