Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle is the largest and most famous in Japan. It is sometimes known as the White Heron, because poets think it looks like a bird about to take flight.

The castle can be traced back to a wooden fort built on the site in 1333 by a Samurai named Akamatsu Norimura. The first stone castle was built on the site in 1346. This was much smaller and less grand than the current structure, which grew over the centuries. The central keep was built in 1581 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Regent, part of a chain of fortresses he built at key transportation nodes across Japan. Further additions were made in the early 1600s; by 1618, the castle had more or less the form you see today.

The castle complex is huge, measuring about 950 by 1,600 meters (3,000 by 5,250 feet). Any attackers who crossed the outer moat and entered the castle were supposed to be confused by the spiraling approach to the central keep and delayed by the 121 gates and the inner moats.

The castle has only survived because of a chain of lucky breaks. During the Meiji period, after 1868, the Japanese feudal system was banned and many castles were destroyed. Himeji was slated for destruction, and in 1871 it was sold to a real estate developer for a pittance. He found that it would cost too much to demolish the structure and fill in the moats, so he dropped the plans. Then an Army colonel named Nakamura Shigeto organized a drive to save the castle, and it was taken back into government hands. Today there is a plaque in the castle honoring Nakamura's role. But part of the castle complex was used for army barracks and much modified.

During World War II Himeji city was much bombed, but only one bomb hit the castle and that one failed to explode. So we are lucky to have this wonderful building. I love these firing holes.

The interior of the castle seems very spare in the pictures I can find. Mostly one see wood, and plain white screens. Noble people lived here, but they did not over-decorate their home.

These mannequins are in a lot of pictures; getting ready to pray in the private quarters of the castle's lord.

Tiles showing the crest of the Terumasa family. To think that somebody ever wanted to destroy this is baffling to me, and I revel in its survival.