Himeji Castle is a castle located in Himeji City in the middle and south of Hyogo Prefecture. It is located about 1 km north of Japan Railway Himeji Station in the center of Himeji City, and you can see the castle tower from the Shinkansen platform of Himeji Station.
Himeji Castle is a modern castle built on Mt. Himeyama, a hill with an altitude of about 46 meters, and the white-walled castle tower is very beautifully known as “White Heron Castle”.
Himeji Castle is a modern castle that was built in 1609 and has a beautiful appearance. It is popular not only for its historical value, but also for enjoying traditional Japanese beautiful scenery, and it is visited by tourists from all over the world.
The castle tower is an existing castle tower that has been built at the time of the castle. The castle tower and seven other buildings are national treasures, the 14 existing buildings are nationally designated important cultural properties, and part of the inner and middle walls are nationally designated special historic sites.
In 1993, Himeji Castle was registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. From 2009 to 2015, large-scale preservation and repair work was carried out on the castle tower, and it regained its original appearance.
Himeji Castle is located about 20 minutes on foot from Japan Railway Himeji Station. Since it stands on a mountain called Mt. Himeyama, it can be seen from various places in the city, making it a symbol of Himeji.
Himeji Castle is a very large and wide castle. Some buildings still exist as they were, and there are places where you can see the ruins even if they are gone now. Therefore, there are so many things to see in Himeji Castle.
Introducing a convenient app for sightseeing. At Himeji Castle, exhibitions and explanations using AR and CG are conducted. To use, download a dedicated app on a smartphone or tablet. When you launch the app at a spot in the castle and hold your device over it, the spot will be explained along with videos and photos. Since it supports both iOS and Android, please use it. Details can be found on the official website of Himeji Castle.
Himeji Castle is surrounded by abundant nature and shows various expressions from season to season. Enjoy beautiful scenery with cherry blossoms in spring, fresh green leaves in summer, autumn leaves in autumn, snow in winter, and all seasons. Please visit if you are near.
The highest aesthetic completeness as a Japanese wooden building
“Himeji Jo” (Himeji Castle), which is registered as a World Heritage Site, is one of Japan’s top tourist attractions. Its elegant appearance is admired that egret seems to spread wings and is also known by the name of “Shirasagi Jo” (Egret Castle). In 1993, Himeji Castle was registered as the first world cultural heritage in Japan with Horyuji Temple of Nara. It boasts the highest aesthetic completeness as a Japanese wooden building, it is unlike anything in the world, and it is also in the heyday of the castle building in the early 17th century, well showing Japan’s unique castle structure, and it was appreciated that points saved in good condition etc.
Its preservation state is very good, and you can still see the unusual remains. Among them, the coalition castle tower is beautiful, and castle large keep on 5th floor and 6th stories, and 3 castle keeps are connected by watari yagura (roofed passage), and you can enjoy spectacular composition beauty.
After sunset, it will be lit up until 0:00. Because the color of the light changes for each season or event, you can see different landscapes depending on the day of visit.
It is the treasure to the future
It is 400 years of time since construction of this castle, the fort is built here more than 600 years ago, the Himeji-jo (Himeji Castle) which should be inherited as the treasure to the future.
World Cultural Heritage
The Himeji-jo is registered as World Cultural Heritage of the UNESCO for the first time in Japan with Horyu-ji Temple in December 1993, and it has received a globally high evaluation in existing castle in Japan. The reason is unique building structure including the group of castle towers, beautiful figure called the Castle of Egret, an ingenious function that has a precise design and invention as a fortress. Then the whole castle is stored well, the citadel almost completely retain a style at the time.
Wooden Building
Whereas most of castles of the world enrolled in a World Heritage are stone building and brick building, but in the Himeji-jo, the main building is wooden except moats and stone walls. Its architecture and the design is unlike any other in the world, and valuable.
The Himeji-jo has not been involved in a war and a fire during its long history, and saved by effort of citizens.
It was designated National Historic Site in 1929, and National Treasures in 1931. It can communicates the world of ancient atmosphere of a castle to modern people after major repair of several times.
Information(Access, Price/Charge, Tel, Address, Official site, etc.)
| Name: | Himeji Jo (Himeji Castle) |
| Adresse: | Honmachi 68 Himeji-city, Hyogo 670-0012 Japan |
| Access: | JR Sanyo-honsen line "Himeji-eki Station” (20 minutes walk) |
| Tel: | (+81) 79-285-1146 (Himeji Castle Management Office) |
| Price/Charge: | 1,000 yen (Adult : 18 years old and over) 300 yen (from elementary to high school students) Please refer the official web page. |
| Official site: | http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/ |
Leave a Reply