The only day when rain came down on small cat feet was on our visit to Himeji Castle and environs. Original fortifications were built here in the early 14th century, but the present structure was completed by the daimyo Lord Ikeda Terumasa over the first decade of the 17th century.
There were plenty of seats on the train from Kobe and tourists were few, perhaps put off by the patter of rain and the threat the dark clouds gave of heavier showers or perhaps an invasion from the south on the castle by marauding ghosts in period garb. It would take a massive army to take this place, but we walked right in. What I first noted was the massive stones and the thickness of any wood doors, the sturdiness of their hinges, and yet the attention to small detail and even added minimalistic ornamentry. The rooms along the perimeter were dark with small slitted windows allowing the only light, just wide enough to fire arrows from.
Himeji Castle is located in the town Himeji, Japan, about 55 west of Kobe, Japan. The castle is named for the town, which is seen in historic records as far back as the 800s. The castle is Japan’s oldest and has been featured as a set in several well-known shows and movies, including the made-for-TV Shogun series of the '80s in the USA, You Only Live Twice of James Bond renown, and two of Akira Kurusawa’s movies: Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior and Ran (Kurosawa’s take on King Lear).
