Himeji could easily be a stop on the bullet train that you pass through when travelling between more famous destinations like Hiroshima and Kyoto. But it’s well worth getting off the train to spend a few hours or an overnight stay to see the city’s magnificent castle Himeji-jo.
The most impressive of the remaining castles from Japan’s feudal era, Himeji is a Unesco-listed site. The pearly white castle is so stunning that it has been featured in many movies, including the James Bond film, You Only Live Twice and Tom Cruise’s epic, The Last Samurai.
Himeji is a small city so the castle is only 1km from the station. That means it can easily be visited by hopping off the shinkansen for a few hours and storing your luggage in a coin locker. But as my friend and I travelled there from mountain-top Koya-san we stayed overnight in the Daiwa Roynet Hotel. It’s perfectly positioned halfway between Himeji station and the castle. So we could walk to the hotel with our luggage and we had a view of the castle from our room.
We arrived at lunchtime and there are lots of cafes and restaurants in Himeji, but the castle grounds has 1,000 cherry blossom trees that were still in bloom in mid-April. So we picked up takeaway sandwiches and ate them sitting on a bench admiring the castle before walking the tree-lined path towards it. And at 45m high, Himeji Castle is quite a sight to admire. It’s surrounded by a complex of moats, has huge walls and a five-storey donjon, or main building.
Once inside the castle, it’s quite a dark, chilly place supported by wooden pillars and with no furnishings. But as you walk around you can spot defensive features like gun and arrow notches and hidden openings that were ideal for a samurai ambush of invaders. At the top, there are excellent views across Himeji city and you can even see the Seto Inland Sea on a clear day.
On the left of the castle is Nisho-no-maru where the feudal lord lived with his family. All that remains of it is the lengthy outer corridor and the cosmetic tower where Princess Sen powdered her nose back in the 17th century. It’s surrounded by gardens which are another great place for a view of the main castle and more photos if you don’t already have enough!
After visiting the castle it’s also worth popping into Koko-en next door which has nine linked gardens. They have been created in the style of an Edo-era samurai home and are the perfect peaceful place for a Japanese garden stroll.
In the evening we hoped to eat at Public House Hosanna as we were interested to see what a British-style pub would be like in Japan. But it was closed on Monday nights, so we opted for the Kokadoya Cocktail Club opposite our hotel and had good pizzas, wine and some surprisingly good cocktails. Google Translate was very helpful for getting my Manhattan just how I like it!
The next morning we hopped back on a bullet train to head to our next destination, but we were very glad we made the time to get off at Himeji.
For more posts about my trip visit the Japan section of my blog and do keep checking it as there are more to come!