In the original post about what is worth buying, there are many shopping and food tips about Japanese tourism, and I would like to share some experiences with friends who want to go just for Himeji Castle. This is the most impressive cultural attraction on this trip, and as originally expected, Himeji Castle's elegant appearance, exquisite interior, and highly practical defense mechanism are the best commemorations of the Edo period strategy and aesthetics in Japan.
Unlike Nara, Kyoto, Himeji Castle is not a regular attraction for kansai tours due to its long distance. Located in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, west of Osaka, the most convenient mode of transportation is from Osaka Umeda Station, take the JR limited express train (Tokaido Sanyo Main Line), and arrive at Himeji Station in about 1 hour and 20 minutes. As a landlord who only stays in the "Yamei Butterfly" stage in Japanese, it is basically okay to take a car in Japan to see Chinese characters, that is, there will be several cars with different destinations and different speeds passing by on the same platform.
The picture shows the landlord's beautiful transportation card~
Along the way, JR passes through several major stations such as Kobe, and the scenery along the way is very similar to the Kansai countryside style of Japanese dramas.
Arriving at Himeji Station, since it is not the peak tourist season, it is sparsely populated and the northwest wind is strong.
After leaving the station, you can actually see the top of the white castle tower in Himeji Castle, just facing the JR station road, originally it was okay to walk over, but because considering that the castle itself is very large to walk a lot of roads, there is a bus stop in front of JR station, and several cars are passing through Himeji Park, so I thought of taking a bus to take two stops to save effort. Unexpectedly, I encountered a large number of students in Himeji City, and the carriage was crowded... The stop where I got off the bus actually stopped at the entrance of the good ancient garden, so I had to walk back a lot. The owner of the return trip learned from the experience and walked directly back to JR station, in fact, the distance is OK, 20 minutes can walk.
This is the moat at the door.
I don't know if the Japanese think 2 is a very auspicious number, and a banner hangs at the gate saying "Celebrating the more than 2.22 million passenger flow in Himeji Castle"... Himeji Park itself does not have a ticket, so it is a good place to bask in the sun and overlook the castle. Walk through the lawns of the park and reach the main entrance of the castle.
It is best to take a picture at this angle. After a five-year renovation project in Heisei Castle, completed in the spring of 2015, the renovation itself is remarkable, retaining the appearance of the original white stucco brushed walls, so that the entire castle tower looks like an egret flying in the air.
Buy a ticket to enter the park, adult JPY1000, if it is a Himeji Castle Good Ancient Garden Package, it is JPY1040. In the winter, the park stops entering the park at four o'clock, and everyone should try to pick a good weather to arrive early. The ticket office will ask you which text of the explanatory manual you need, take Chinese Simplified, the manual is very detailed, will help you better understand the structure of the city and the details of the repair project.
The tour route is usually to climb the castle tower first, and then go to Nishinomaru. The picture shows the entrance to the castle tower.
Here's a little bit of history to be inserted (if you feel bored, please skip it yourself). As a layman in Japanese history, your understanding of the Sengoku period is limited to Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and it will not affect your experience of Himeji Castle. It only needs to be known that Himeji Castle was an acropolis of a feudal lord in the Sengoku period of Japan, and there were many city lords in the past, in addition to the beautiful appearance, it also reflected the highest castle-building technology of the Edo period, and was a well-structured fortification.
The castle was not built by a single lord, and the easier to understand section is that Toyotomi Hideyoshi occupied Himeji Castle when he attacked the Maori family, and the three-tier castle keep was built by the family minister Kuroda Takataka, which was later transformed several times to become today's five-fold seven-story castle keep. More famous is Miss Chihime, who once lived in Himeji Castle for 10 years, the granddaughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu. This young lady was married to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's son at a very young age, and was later rescued in the fire during the Battle of Osaka, and later remarried Honda Tadake and moved to Himeji Castle, where the happy ten years she spent with her husband are still widely praised.
As can be seen from the front, the slope below the castle tower is steeper and steeper from the top, which is also an effective defense against enemies climbing up the walls to attack. At the same time, there are many hollow holes in the white city wall, circular rectangular triangles, which are convenient for occupying favorable terrain for bows and arrows and falling stones, and later there are rifle shooting holes.
On the eaves, it is said that successive city lords have left their family emblems on the tiles due to the repair of the roof tiles to show their status as the city lords. At the same time, the white stucco walls themselves are fireproof, and the interior is a wooden structure.
After descending the castle keep, you will pass through this gate and go to visit Nishi-no-maru's residence. There is a slope along the way that is the best place to shoot the side view of Himeji Castle, so don't miss it.
In the winter, only pine trees are used as a background, if in the spring, those bare trunks are full of cherry blossoms, and himeji Castle under the shade of cherry blossoms must be very beautiful, but then tourists will also come one after another, and there will be no leisure at this time.
Nishi-no-maru is a room where you live every day, you need to take off your shoes to go up, it is all wooden structure, the stairs are very narrow, the interior is very exquisite, and the windows can be opened.
The room also simulates the scene of Miss Chihime and the maid playing a card game, and a cat lying on the side. Exit nishinomaru, the tour is complete, follow the road you came from, walk out of the gate, and take a final look at the elegant castle tower.
There is a shop in Himeji Park that sells exclusive souvenirs, and there are many varieties. One was given away when I got back, and there were two left to show. Key ring, with Himeji Castle on the front and Himeji Bun on the reverse, JPY580. Glowing card, JPY160. One that was sent away was an all-metal skeleton Himeji Castle, JPY380 yuan, which I personally felt was more delicate than the plastic one, that is, it was heavier.
When you go out of the gate, you can take a look at the scenery of the moat, the blue sky and white clouds, the water waves are not happy, and the smog has gone to China.
The whole tour takes about two hours, plus three hours of round-trip time on the road, which still takes most of the day. In addition, it is recommended that you leave early, bring some filling, and return to Osaka at about 1:00 pm, and you can also eat a meal. There are not many options for eating in Himeji City, and there is Yoshinoya at JR Station, so you can eat if you really can't catch up.
Thank you all for watching.