Postcard from Himeji Castle - an evening's stroll

Himeji Castle floating in the night sky

I unexpectedly had an evening to kill in the famous castle city of Himeji, so of course I dumped my bags at my hotel and made for the castle as quickly as I could - I had no idea when they'd turn the lights off!

My progress was delayed by the numpties at the hotel check-in, who could not compute that I was not carrying my passport (the check-in machine they were lurking behind would not work without it...), nor was I going to let them require it anyway. Guy checking in next to me, probably Japanese = not asked for ID. Numpty #1 went for a translation app & assumed "English" etc. Been there, got the t-shirt & a crap way to start trips in 2026. Mini-rant over.

Sitting pretty on its hilltop, Himeji castle dominates the skyline. Illuminated brightly at night, it almost floats, as you can see in the picture. There was almost nobody about, as I strolled around the inner moat  apart from a noisy group of Americans wondering if they could do a bit of trespassing (silly idea, as a secuirty guard was following them!).

Walls reflected in the glass-like moat

It was a chilly night, and very still. The moat was like glass, casting fabulous reflections of the impressive fortifications. Each corner offered a new angle of the keep, and the inner walls looming above, with shadows emphasising its defensive might...A very different (and better) experience than my first visit here during Covid, socially not distanced from thousands of elbows-out Chinese visitors and their annoying selfie sticks.

A lovely evening's walk. Super peaceful - I thoroughly recommend this night-time exploration.

Check out my photos from this, and my previous trip on Flickr!