Himeji Castle

16/9/11

This day Mingaling and I headed to Himeji Castle. It is one of the only remaining castles that isn’t just a restructure of one that was destroyed. Unfortunately it was currently being fixed up, so what we saw leading up to it wasn’t very impressive. It was a giant scaffolding with an image of the castle on the outside.

I kinda liked the train ride there, because you could see the giant scaffolding in the distance from the train. The actual castle would have looked awesome. We also looked out for a large bridge to one of the islands on the way, the largest of it’s type, which was also impressive.

The weather was not working in our favor and as we headed to the castle from the train station it was starting to rain. By the time we actually got in the castle it was a downpour, and as we walked back to the train station we were thanking our lucky stars that we weren’t wearing white clothing. Our summer umbrellas were useless.

The actual castle was pretty cool, they had arranged some information outside in a little area where we saw clan emblems and suits of armor. We also saw a formally haunted well. Apparently they buried the ladies remains properly so her spirit would be at rest.

We paid a bit extra to go outside the castle up to the roof where we saw the reconstruction going on. While interesting, I would like to go back when they are finished. Although, I don’t think many people would ever get the chance to see the roof like we did.

The indoors part was very cramped and dark, but it was quite atmospheric for the dreadful day outside.

We were quite happy to head back to our apartment. At the Osaka station we spent a bit of time looking for a Loft store so I could by my sister a bento box, but it was a bit far away, so we decided to call it a day and head home.