Himeji castle

Third stop – Himeji Castle

The largest remaining castle in Japan.  Also was not destroyed during the war so is substantially in the same shape it was several hundred years ago.

Picture of the castle in the distance while in the inner walls.

One wing of the castle’s outer areas.  Living quarters for the samurai and their attendances.  It was very cold inside…

One of the passages up to the castle.  A very very windy route, and every spot has lots of holes for things to be dropped down from.

In the second set of walls, a closer view of the keep.

Just in front of the keep.  The closer we got the keep, the darker the clouds became…  See the first castle picture.

Important notice.  Don’t climb a stone wall.  Just to let you know that even though there is no boiling oil or angry samurai anymore something else might happen to you.

Inside the keep.  Level 1 of 5.

Map of the keep.

Samurai armour.

View from the top floor of the keep.  Imagine climbing the whole way up here while having lots of different hot, sharp, and unpleasant things dropped on you.

A wooden model of the construction of the keep.