White Heron Castle
The weather gods must of favored us on our trip through Western Japan because it seems like everyplace we went had excellent weather. After leaving Miyajima, me and my friend Boris went to Himeji, which is between Hiroshima and Kobe. Himeji is famous for Himeji Castle, which is the most spectacular castle in all of Japan. Nicknamed as the "White Heron" castle for its white walls, Himeji is one of the oldest surviving wooden castles in Japan. When we came out of Himeji Station, we immediately saw Himeji Castle. It's almost more beautiful from a far than it is upclose. The main road that leads to Himeji Castle is this magnificent stretch of blocks that offers a heart pounding view of the castle as well as many strinkingly interesting statues that line up the streets. As we got closer to Himeji Castle, I felt like I was in a movie marching to Rome. The walk to Himeji takes less than 20 minutes and is rather enjoyable.
The real estate of Himeji is huge and will take a half a day if you want to see everything. Before you go inside of the castle, you have to take off your shoes. So make sure you have a good pair of socks on. Once you get inside, it is kind of dark with much of the light coming from the windows. Going to the top floor in the castle is quite a task because the stairs leading up are quite narrow and the steps are small. They are also kind of slippery if you have socks on. I felt like I was going to tumble down the stairs a few times, so I grabbed on the hand rail as if my life depended on it.
We arrived to Himeji Castle kind of near closing, so we did not have the luxury of seeing everything. But if you would like to see more of Himeji Castle, you can take a virtual tour by clicking here. Enjoy!
