Himeji Castle

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About Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle, nicknamed the White Heron Castle (Shirasagi-jo) for its white plastered walls, is the largest original castle in Japan. The present form was built from 1601 by Ikeda Terumasa, son-in-law of Tokugawa Ieyasu, on earlier fortifications and was completed in 1609. It survived wars, the late 19th-century castle demolitions and the bombings of World War II. It is a National Treasure and was inscribed in 1993 among Japan’s first World Heritage Sites.

The main keep has five exterior roofs and six floors plus a basement inside, connected to three smaller towers by covered corridors. Inside, the structure is wooden, with large pillars and steep staircases; the floors display loopholes, openings for dropping stones and weapon storage areas. From the top floor you can see the city, the train station and the surrounding mountains.

The route to the keep is designed to confuse attackers: it passes through narrow gates, turns, dead ends and ramps that seem to lead visitors away from the target. Signs and arrows guide the path. Along the walls there are stones reused from graves and mills, and a well linked to the legend of Okiku, a maid whose ghost is said to count plates at night.

The West Bailey, Nishi-no-maru, has a long corridor of about 300 meters with rooms where Princess Sen, a granddaughter of Ieyasu, once lived. The castle gardens have hundreds of cherry trees, and the park around it is one of Kansai’s most popular spots during the flowering season. Visitors must remove their shoes, which are carried in bags, and the interior staircases are very steep.