We left Hiroshima on the bullet train at 8:45 am. Another early morning. I'm get tired and homesick. I want to sleep in and I miss Cody. Dennis is sweet and gives me a hug telling me I've been a trooper on this power vacation. He's so happy being in Japan and being with me seeing it all, that he's almost always in a good mode and Mr. Cuddles. That I really. Humm, how can I have this more often when we're at home?
Anyway, I digress. We arrive at Himeji Castle in the city of Himeji. It's a high overcast, gloomy day. Dennis refers to this as the "mother of all Japanese castles." It is ver y tall with white walls so it is sometimes referred to as the White Heron Castle.
Hideyoshi Toyotomi built a small castle on the site in 1580. An ally of Ieyayo Tokogawa built the castle roughly in its present form from about 1601 to 1618. The town was bombed twice by the US in WWII but the castle escaped damage. It has been been restored several times in the past several decades. [Dennis helped me with the facts.]
You may have seen this castle in one of the following films: James Bond's You Only Live Twice, Kagemusha, Ran, The Last Samurai, and the Shogun tv series.
I toured the castle grounds and buildings with Donald Jr. and Dennis. Donald Sr. and Chie did their own exploring. Hanging with the Brothers has it's pros and cons. They're fun to be with, but they take TONS of photos. So I spent a good deal of time hangin' around looking at the castle walls, rocks, trees while they took photos.
We were hoping for an English tour but the castle said none were available that day. I did see some guides giving private tours in English to individuals though; when I found one of these guides I would lurk around to listen and pick up some history. The brochure guidebook was horrible. Very little information and terrible grammar. We couldn't figure out why this famous castle didn't sport for a good translator to review the text and make edits.
The castle has some common elements to those I've seen in Europe -- moats (2 of them), a bailey, wells, and a keep but the construction is a bit different. The roofs are distinctly Japanese with tiles and a curve to the roofs. Each of the end tiles had the seal of the family who was in charge when that part was constructed. The entry gates look distinctly Japanese. The main tower is built of wood. There isn't any furniture or art.
The princess's quarters had tatami mats (the only place on the castle grounds that has them). And, we came across a few trees with pink blossoms (wrong season for cherry blossoms, right?).
We tour the buildings and then climb the 6 story tower. It sits high on top of layers of rocks/boulders that are perfectly placed to create a solid base for the tower. That is pretty amazing. The climb up the stairs isn't for the weak kneed either. Japanese steps are very steep.
The views from the top are quite impressive (surrounding countryside and city of Himeji). It makes me think that it would have been darn near impossible to not be seen from the tower if you were trying to stage an attack. And if you were trying to sneak in, you'd have to cross 2 moats, and 3 stone walls just to get to the bottom of the 6 story, well fortified tower. A pretty secure fortress in my opinion!
Dennis is just thrilled to be here. I'm thinking, "I bet he has had a past life here" right when he walks up to me and says "I feel like I'm walking in the shadows of old samuris." Yep, he's been here before -- maybe as a samuri himself. He would think I'm crazy for thinking that, but it makes sense.
We rushed back to the train station, inhaled a quick lunch and got the 4 pm train bound for Tokyo. I got Dennis to play several rounds of Zigity (card game) with me on the 3 1/2 hour trip so the time goes faster. I think we were all very happy to come back to the New Sanno Hotel again -- it felt like home. We could have a meal that wasn't Japanese food and relax in our luxuriously large hotel rooms!
Anyway, I digress. We arrive at Himeji Castle in the city of Himeji. It's a high overcast, gloomy day. Dennis refers to this as the "mother of all Japanese castles." It is ver y tall with white walls so it is sometimes referred to as the White Heron Castle.
Hideyoshi Toyotomi built a small castle on the site in 1580. An ally of Ieyayo Tokogawa built the castle roughly in its present form from about 1601 to 1618. The town was bombed twice by the US in WWII but the castle escaped damage. It has been been restored several times in the past several decades. [Dennis helped me with the facts.]
You may have seen this castle in one of the following films: James Bond's You Only Live Twice, Kagemusha, Ran, The Last Samurai, and the Shogun tv series.
I toured the castle grounds and buildings with Donald Jr. and Dennis. Donald Sr. and Chie did their own exploring. Hanging with the Brothers has it's pros and cons. They're fun to be with, but they take TONS of photos. So I spent a good deal of time hangin' around looking at the castle walls, rocks, trees while they took photos.
We were hoping for an English tour but the castle said none were available that day. I did see some guides giving private tours in English to individuals though; when I found one of these guides I would lurk around to listen and pick up some history. The brochure guidebook was horrible. Very little information and terrible grammar. We couldn't figure out why this famous castle didn't sport for a good translator to review the text and make edits.
The castle has some common elements to those I've seen in Europe -- moats (2 of them), a bailey, wells, and a keep but the construction is a bit different. The roofs are distinctly Japanese with tiles and a curve to the roofs. Each of the end tiles had the seal of the family who was in charge when that part was constructed. The entry gates look distinctly Japanese. The main tower is built of wood. There isn't any furniture or art.
The princess's quarters had tatami mats (the only place on the castle grounds that has them). And, we came across a few trees with pink blossoms (wrong season for cherry blossoms, right?).
We tour the buildings and then climb the 6 story tower. It sits high on top of layers of rocks/boulders that are perfectly placed to create a solid base for the tower. That is pretty amazing. The climb up the stairs isn't for the weak kneed either. Japanese steps are very steep.
The views from the top are quite impressive (surrounding countryside and city of Himeji). It makes me think that it would have been darn near impossible to not be seen from the tower if you were trying to stage an attack. And if you were trying to sneak in, you'd have to cross 2 moats, and 3 stone walls just to get to the bottom of the 6 story, well fortified tower. A pretty secure fortress in my opinion!
Dennis is just thrilled to be here. I'm thinking, "I bet he has had a past life here" right when he walks up to me and says "I feel like I'm walking in the shadows of old samuris." Yep, he's been here before -- maybe as a samuri himself. He would think I'm crazy for thinking that, but it makes sense.
We rushed back to the train station, inhaled a quick lunch and got the 4 pm train bound for Tokyo. I got Dennis to play several rounds of Zigity (card game) with me on the 3 1/2 hour trip so the time goes faster. I think we were all very happy to come back to the New Sanno Hotel again -- it felt like home. We could have a meal that wasn't Japanese food and relax in our luxuriously large hotel rooms!
1 comment:
Good description of Himeji Castle. Dennis is right, this is the mother of all Japanese castles. It represent the highest level of design work for Japanese castles during the samurai era. Ironically, it was already outdated by European standard by the time it was completed.
Gee Kathleen...didn't you take any photos yourself?? Missing out on the fun.
I could have think of couple of other things Dennis could have been in his past life....
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