Himeji Castle is the best preserved example of a Medieval castle in all of Japan. The castle is also called Shirasagijo which means White Heron due to its white plastered walls. Built in 1333, the building was placed on the UNESCO World heritage list in 1993 as the building is made completely out of wood, not stone. The gargoyle on the roof of the castle is said to protect the building from fire and it must be doing a good job as the building has never been damaged by fire in its long history.

Built to protect the Shogun from his enemies, the unique internal maze design and moat made it an impenetrable fortress. The military strategies are still evident throughout the castle today such as rock walls which were actually false walls which would collapse on the enemy when they tried to break in. A room with a shrine on the top floor is where the Shogun and his family would take refuge when under attack by the enemy.

The Main Tower along with the smaller towers and corridors connecting the towers has been registered as national treasures. The Cosmetic Tower, 27 ‘yagura’, 15 gates, and 1,000 meter-long earthen walls have been registered as important cultural treasures. A part of the middle moat, and the whole inner moat remain as they were in the feudal times. The area inside the middle moat has been registered as a special historical site.

The castle is a monument of the Japanese concept of harmony between man and nature. The craftsmen transformed basic elements of nature into a refined and elegant structure.  The building has undergone continuous upgrades since and was entirely finished in 1618.

This spectacular castle offers a unique insight into Japanese history and is well worth the visit.

In 1992 Japan signed the Agreement of World Heritage list. Himeji Castle and Horyuji Temple and its attached buildings were recommended for the World Heritage in Japan.
Himeji Castle is a well-preserved building and above all it is a good respresentative of all the castles in Japan. The committee highly valued the traditional wooden architecture in Japan. Castle stone walls and the white plastered walls have been well maintained in original forms. We are thankful that this castle has been kept in fine condition by a great number of people’s efforts and enthusiasm.  Fortunately the castle has never been involved with the evil of ill war.

In 1333 Norimura Akamatsu, the ruler of Harima District, built a fort, and in 1346 his son, Sadanori built premises, Later the Kotera and Kuroda clans ruled this area. (Later some scholars say the original castle was built in the middle of the 16h century when Shigetaka Kuroda and his son, Mototaka Kuroda ruled the district, Hideyoshi succeeded to the castle. After Sekigahara Civil War the lord named Terumasa Ikeda, son-in-law of the Shogun. Ieyasu Tokugawa moved into the castle to rule. His annual salary was 520,000 koku of rice. (One koku is 5 bushels of rice.) In 1601 Terumasa Ikeda started digging three moats around the castle building and completed the whole castle complex as it is in 1609. The outer moat is just north of J.R.Himeji Station today. After the Ikedas, Tadamasa Honda added some buildings in West Bailey. His annual salary was 150,000 koku of rice. This wonderful magnificent castle you enjoy today was entirely finished in 1618. After Honda Family there were other lords such as the Matsudairas, the Sakakibaras, and more.
His descent met with the Meiji Restoration in 1868, when Shogunite system disappeared.

The Main Tower along with the smaller towers and corridors connecting the towers have been registered as national treasures. The Cosmetic Tower, 27 ‘yagura’, 15 gates, and 1,000 meter-long earthen walls have been registered as important cultural treasures. A part of the middle moat and the whole inner moat remain as they were in the feudal times. The area inside the middle moat has been registered as a special historical site.

Feature Aspects of Himeji Castle

• Family Crest Title of Lords
  Every ‘oni-gawara’ or a devil title and ‘maru-gawara’ or a circle title used on the eaves has a family crest of the lords who built or repaired the castle.
  On the ‘yagura’ or an arrow warehouse built on the stone walls of the Ni Gate, we can see a crested title which has the Cross on the surface.

• Oil Wall
  Moat walls of the castle are made of white plaster. But ‘abura-kabe’ or an oil wall is brown. It is made of clay and sand mixed with boiled rice water. It has stood for over 400 years.

• Substitute for Ordinary stone
  The base stone of the right side pillar of the ‘Ha’ Gate was a stone lantern base that belonged to a temple nearby.
  When Hideyoshi Hashiba built his castle, he used a lot of Buddhism-orientated stones such as grave stone coffins as the substitute for ordinary stones.

• West Bailey Building Connected with Princess ‘Sen’
  Princess ‘Sen’ the eldest daughter of the second  ‘Shogun’ in the Tokugawa Government married Tadatoki Honda, the son of Lord Tadamasa Honda. The couple spent happy days in the west bailey building. Cosmetic Tower and Long Corridor remind us of her happy days.

• Koshi-kuruwa
  A long storehouse situated at the back of the main tower was called ‘koshi-kuruwa’ or a waist building. This is where they kept rice and salt in case the castle was besieged. It has also a well in it.
  This building was built along with a low hill which has a slight and gentle curve. That’s why the roof line has a beautiful curve, which is not seen anywhere.

• Uba-ga-ishi
  When Hideyoshi Hashiba, the 15th lord of the castle, was building his own castle, a poor old woman contributed her only one milestone to the lord who had difficulty gathering his castle materials for lack of stones. Soon this story spread all over the area, and a lot of stones were donated by a number of people. Her sacrifice made him complete the stone walls rapidly.

• Fan Curve
  The stone walls of the castle have a slight curve at the corner they look like open fans. That is why these curves have been called ‘Fan Curves’. The stone walls were built in the ‘Random Style’. At the corners the larger square stones were pilled on top of one another: this form of construction was called ‘Trimmed Style’.

• Main Pillars
  From the outside the main tower appears to have five stories. Somehow there are six stories and one basement inside. The tower has two main pillars whose diameters are nearly one meter. The base of the east one was swapped with new one in the Showa Restoration (1956 – 1964).

• Osakabe Shinto Shrine
  The shrine at the top of the main tower is ‘Osakabe Shrine’. This shrine was built on the top of the hills where the castle stands now. When they planned to build the castle where the shrine was, they moved it to another place. Afterwards people felt Nature’s curse, and they relocated the shrine inside the main tower.
  There is a famous legend that a great swordsman named Musashi Miyamoto was killed and is haunting the tower.

• View from the Top of Main Tower - South Side
  At the end of the main street J.R. Himeji Station can be seen, and around there the outer moat once existed. On fine days we could see the islands in the Seto Inland Sea beyond the station building.

• East Side
  Below this castle there is a red brick building. It used to be a depot for the Japanese Army during World War 2. Now it is the municipal art museum. The white building to the left of the art museum is Prefectural Historical Museum.

• Harakiri-maru
  The structure of this building implies a place for ‘Harakiri’ or ‘Seppuku’, the samurai’s ritual suicide. This place is the place for ‘Seppuku’. The well near the building seems to have been used for washing a beheaded. But in reality, the building was one of the most important defensive posts protecting the rear gate.

• Okiku’s Well
  This castle has a famous ghost story called Banshu Sara-Yashiki’. Once the servant names ‘Okiku’, serving the lord of the castle happened to know the wicked chef retainer’s plot that he was going to kill the lord and he was to be the lord of the castle in his palace. She saved the lord. Later the retainer found himself that it was she who interfered the plot, and took revenge by stealing purposely one of the ten treasure dishes. She was tortured to death on the charge of missing the dish. Then the chief retainer threw her dead body into this well.

Contact:
68 Hon-Machi, Himeji, Hyogo (Tel: 079-285-1146)

Entry:
From 9.00am to 4.00pm (September to Late April)
From 9.00am to 5.00pm (Late April to August)

Closed:
Only for abouttwo days 12/29 * 12/30

Tour: About 1 ½ hours

Access:
15 minutes’ walk from J.R Himeji station
By car from Fukusaki Intersection of Chugoku Expressway