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!

A postcard from...Himeji Castle

A castle for all seasons

My brother (who is obviously English, but lives in Australia) has been going on and on about majestic
Himeji Castle for years....and I have to admit that I now understand exactly what he has been on about. It has been on my 'bucket list' for a while :)

As soon as you pop out of the station, you can't miss it! Sitting imperiously atop a hill, shimmering white walls against a moody sky - jaw-droppingly impressive. As you approach it, it just gets bigger and broader, steepling ramparts and shifting perspectives as you round another corner.

I happily spent the best part of  an afternoon snooping around for angles that I am sure have been well found over the centuries! I got a bit annoyed with the over-officious staff, and also inconsiderate tourons walking in front of an obvious photographer (who has had to wait nearly 30 years to get this chance!); and the procession up the inside of the castle was over-marshalled/busy. Impressive structure yes, and fabulous views, but no real time to savour & not a lot of useful information (can't climb steep slippery steps in slippers, with a camera & a bag of shoes & browse the guidebook!).

Himeji Castle is an awesome experience; visually stunning, architecturally immense, and historically significant. Don't miss "Heron Castle"!

 

Haunting Story: Banshu Sara Yoshiki

Name of building:

Himeji Castle

Location:

Okayama prefecture

History of building:

Established in 1346, castle towers were built in 1580 by Hideyoshi.

Description of ghost: 
In 1504 Okiku, a young and clever housemade, saved Onodera, the master of the castle, while Aoyama, one of Onodera's retainers, took over the castle. Aoyama's retainer, Danshiro realized her actions, he compelled her to be his mistress but she refused. Danshiro was so angry that he broke one of ten dishes of his master's treasure and blamed her. He strangled her and threw her body into the old well.

Ghost's activity:
Okiku appeared from the old well every midnight and she counted the dishes in her painful voice, 'one, two, three…'. There should have been 10 pieces but one of them was broken by Danshiro,
so she broke down in tears for missing the 10th dish.

People's feelings:
People were sorry for Okiku. This story spread all over Japan and it became a Kabuki play or Rakugo story.