Himeji, Japan September 2024 £1 = ¥192
As we emerged from the quiet train station in Himeji, we were immediately presented with the sight of the majestic Himeji Castle, its gleaming white facade contrasting against the bright blue sky in the distance. A road stretched out ahead of us for 1.7 km, leading us straight towards Japan's most well preserved castle. This iconic symbol of Japan's feudal architecture seemed impressive from afar, but the scale of it got more and more awe-inspiring with every step towards it we took. It was unlike anything I had ever seen in person, and I was more than eager to explore it.
The road ended at a moat and we followed it along to find the bridge that would allow us entry into the castle grounds. We stopped here, along with throngs of other tourist, to take photos before heading through the first of many gargantuan gates. From there we passed by a large empty grassy field, this once was where the homes of Samurai sat before they were demolished to make way for parade grounds. Our path zigzagged it's way up the hill, passing through more thick impressive gates before we finally made it to the ticket office. We went for the combi ticket (¥1100) that would allow us access to the nearby Koko-en Gardens as well the Castle.
Although the path we took wasn't roped off, there is a "right" way to head round the castle to ensure that all of it is explored and this is by following the rather confusing direction arrows. These arrows first led us to the west bailey, and before we could go in we had to switch our shoes for socks and were provided bags in which to carry our shoes in.
It was like stepping into another world. The gleaming white exterior of the building replaced with more the natural tone of timber. Our socks glided over flooring worn smooth from years of traffic, as we slowly followed the line through the wooden corridor lit only by the sunlight filtering through the many barred windows. We occasionally split off from the crowd into the small adjoining rooms that were once home to a Princess and her retinue. The rooms were not grand, but beautifully made, each board perfectly formed and not a splinter out of place. Even this residential area of the castle was built with defence in mind with arrow slits and murder holes (portions of the woodwork that hinged open to the outside) spaced evenly throughout, which from fire could be rained down on any attackers.
It didn't seem like a home that would be lively, but one of quiet contemplation and maybe that feeling was borne from the delicate way most people seemed to explore it.
From the windows of the bailey we caught glimpses of the "main" castle, layers of roofs stacked on top of each other, that seemingly grew larger and larger as we made our way through. In reality, to get there we would need to head back outside, put on our shoes and pass through another series of gates. The castle was deliberately built with layers of walls surrounding it and many of those walls had gates, some led up to the castle and many led to dead ends and small courtyards that were perfect for an ambush. The Castle keep, unlike European equivalents, was only used in times of war and as Himeji Castle never came under attack this meant it was hardly used at all.
We entered at the bottom level, a large dark cavernous series of rooms that would have been used for storage. As the room relied on natural lighting the central room was so pitch black that we couldn't see into it. Right, up the stairs and onto the next floor, this had a walkway running around the circumference of the building with a central "room" that housed the staircases up - this layout repeated until we reached the top. The walls of the walkway were lined with weapon mounts on one side and the other was lined with murder holes and special cupboards in which samurai would hide until invaders were in the perfect position to be attacked. Up and up we climbed, our socked feet sometimes slipping on the smooth surface of the stairs we ascended.
On every level the view of the city grew more impressive, and as we stood directly in the middle of the windows on the seventh and final floor, we could see how the city had been planned with the view from this exact spot taken into consideration. The long straight road we traveled from the train station was directly in front of us, like an arrow leading from Himeji's past to it's present. From our vantage it wasn't only the city that was impressed, but the roofs of the castle itself, the immaculately placed tiling and the fish shaped tiles (shachihoko) that capped the tips of every corner.
On the way up to Himeji Castle's summit, each floor had informational signs, some about its specific features and some about its history. The most astounding to me was the small exhibit about the restoration. Unlike what I imagined (paint touch ups, replacement of rotting wood, shoring up stone work) roughly 350 years after it was built in 1601, the entire castle down to every stone in its behemoth base was removed, a new foundation was added and the whole thing was reassembled. The castle was sinking under its own weight, but still I can't wrap my mind around how this was even achieved, this building, one of the most awe inspiring and majestic buildings I have seen, was taken apart like a lego kit and has been perfectly re-birthed retaining its sense of age and grandiosity.
It was only as we left the castle keep and followed the path to the exit that we truly absorbed how much it towered over us. The path we took before was gradual, whereas the view from the other side was stark. I had to crane my neck back to even see past the stone base, I felt like I had been shrunk down, the idea that I had climbed to its very tip almost making me feel dizzy.
Next we had a garden to explore but before that: lunch. We first headed across the street from the Castle, and although the strange restaurant/tacky gift shops were fairly busy they just weren't screaming "yummy food", but seemed to be coughing behind their hands "tourist tax for mediocre fare" instead. So we ventured further.
The place we found, Sakurasaku, was a homely independent restaurant that also sold rather rustic looking vegetables in its entrance. This seemed much more up our alley. We were warmly welcomed in by the proprietress, who showed us to a large communal table. It was the traditional sort which hovered over a pit and was surrounded by floor cushions on which we would sit once we had removed our shoes. She excitedly explained that the desert on the set menu, a chiffon cake, was inspired by her love of watching the Great British Bake Off. The portions weren't huge, but for ¥1300 each we had a perfectly formed set of salmon, rice, four sides and a miso soup followed by a fluffy portion of cake and a cup of tea. The meal was simple and delicious but the whole experience was enhanced by the beautifully decorated space and the fact (when not serving her customers) the owner was sitting looking over stunningly crafted teapots at the end of the table, seemingly deciding which ones to add to her restaurant. Leaving her to tea-pot musings, we said our thanks (Gouchi-su-sana-deshita), swivelled our legs out of the pit and left.
To get the Koko-en Gardens we had to head back towards the castle but instead of heading over the moat we followed the road along until the entrance appeared on our right. We didn't know what to expect going in, we hadn't researched it prior to arriving but thought why not have a look round as it only added a hundred of yen onto the ticket price. Koko-en was comprised of nine different edo-style strolling gardens which all had different themes. The idea is that different areas will flourish in different seasons, making each visit to the garden special. While we were visiting the garden of flowers and the garden of seedlings were slightly underwhelming, though the garden of summer trees with its leaves gently turning bronze seemed to shine. Of course, a traditional tea house garden never fails to make my heart sing either.
We spent a good hour walking from walled garden to walled garden, soaking in the tranquility and finding the small details which added to the ambience, before we got too tired and decided to call it a day. We had dropped our bags off at the hotel earlier and the small glimpse didn't prepare us for what was to come. We'd chosen this hotel on a lark, we were curious you see - for the strangely low price of £35 we would get a private on-suite room for the night and dinner and breakfast included, we had to know what was going on.
So the room itself was fine. A bit on the incredibly compact side and last renovated in the 90's but it did indeed come with a private bathroom... with a bath no less, that we would need to scrunch ourselves up like an accordion to get into it was completely besides the point. Outside the room things were a bit more intimidating. Slightly youth hostel, slightly prison, mainly hell scape. I don't understand how they managed to design such a terrifying landing but they did. It was the bare metal, it was the wind ripping through, it was the large open area in the middle where I could easily fall to my death, it was vertigo every time I needed to get to the elevator. But... if I squished myself in really close to the fire escape I could see Himeji Castle in the distance, and there was free public onsen (although we didn't try) and the breakfast was large buffet of mainly edible food, what more could I ask for.
Would I recommend? At that price how could I not.
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