Himeji Castle: Pretty in Pink

by Julie Tetel Andresen | April 16, 2019 |

I arrived in the Osaka area of Japan (specifically: Nishinomiya) late Thursday evening. The first thing we did on Friday was to travel west for an outing at Himeji Castle (hime = ‘princess’ + ji ‘road’). It’s the only original castle – do I have this right? – in Japan that has not been somehow destroyed and completely rebuilt. So, it’s authentic. (It has understandably undergone some restoration.)

Another name for it is Hakuro-jo ‘White Heron Castle,’ because it resembles a white heron taking flight. It took 250 years to build and was finished in the early 17th century.

Himeji Castle: Sakura Season

A key word to know in Japanese: sakura ‘cherry blossom.’

It’s mid-April, full cherry blossom season, so you are going to see a lot of them in this blog and the next. I hit the season at its peak.

So, which image of Himeji to use as the title image?

There is this:

Himeji floating on a fluffy cloud of sakura

And this:

The people add a sense of reverence

I could only choose one! So, as you’ve seen, I chose the image with the most varied layers: foreground with moat, bridge, people and wall; middeground with sakura and castle, and background with sky.

Important aesthetic decision made. Tough!

Himeji Castle: The Interior

You enter through an impressive gate.

My son, Gerard, is wearing a backpack. Rimi has her back to me, reading something that I cannot, namely because it’s in Japanese

You encounter an impressive rock.

Gonna take a stab: it says something about Himeji Castle

Okay, everything about this castle and the grounds are impressive and from every angle:

I actually tried to find an image of the castle without the sakura, so I could imagine what it was like if I hadn’t come upon it this week. I thought I found this one, above, until I posted it and saw the sakura up on the top right and bottom left.

But then I found this:

Oops, no! Even this picture has a couple of branches of sakura peeking in on the top left. In fact, there is no image I have of the castle that doesn’t include sakura.

Suffice it to say, Himeji Castle is, by times, magical:

And imposing:

The sakura are so plentiful, their petals make carpets:

Himeji Castle: The Interior

The castle has six floors and a basement. The interior is all wood and the height of craftsmanship. Every floor is some version of this:

Everyone is carrying a plastic bag holding their shoes. So everyone is in socks. All the visitors’ socks give the floors a good collective polishing.

The structural techniques of the skeleton of the castle are as amazing as its exterior:

Here is what you find on the top floor:

I saw people clap their hands once, pull the thick cord to ring a bell, bow and then put money in the wooden box with the slats on top. You can figure as well as I can what’s up with that.