Himeji-jo with Fran & Larry

January 1, 2008

Well, I guess I need to get back on the ball again and get caught up on my blogging. I have been sick for a couple of weeks, and pretty busy at school (writing tests, grading tests, grading learning journals...). I also need to get caught up because my mother-in-law arrives in less than 48 hrs and that means there will be many more pictures to post and blog about.

During my parents visit, we were taken on a guided tour of Himeji Castle (Himeji-jo) in English! On the way there, my mom stopped to take some pictures of the winter flowers.

They were both white and purple, but I liked the purple best.


This is a traditional New Year's flower arrangement. Each part of the arrangement has a meaning, I just don't remember now.



This is the bridge over the moat leading into the castle grounds.




This signs says that Himeji-jo is a World Heritage Site (did you know that the Grand Canyon is a World Heritage site?).

We had several English guides with us that day. Mami was the first to meet us. And she had many presents for RJ and Sara. A new sword for RJ along with a samurai helmet (origami style), and a blow up ball for Sara. They were very excited. (this picture is still outside of the castle grounds, just to the left of the bridge)

Once my parents arrived and Toshi meet up with us, we went into the castle grounds, and took another photo (warning, this is a tour of Himeji Castle so there will be a lot of pictures of us in front of it. And YES I did delete a lot of them)

This was taken as we got closer to the castle ticket booth.

This was going into one of the large door ways into the immediate castle grounds.

Along all of the castle walls, are little cut outs. They are different shapes to add a decorative touch. But they had a purpose.


The guards of the castle could throw stones, hot water, hot oil　and even shot arrows tｈrough them the approaching enemy and still be safe on the other side.

We went to the west abbey first to look at the architecture. Some of the tour guides had an appointment at 1pm (and the children started the tour with us) we decided not to go inside this area.

One of my 1st grade students saw me at the castle and came over to talk. They wanted to take a picture with me.

More pictures in front of the castle

Another one with happy grandma and Papa

Being on tour with native Himejians was great! Toshi pointed out a lot of great things that we never would have noticed or known about on the tour. He is pointed to a star that is etched into the stone. It is on the wall of one of the sleeping tours. At one time the prince slept there and the star was put there to protect him for evil.

This is the wall and tower that the stone is etched on.

Some more etching on some stairs. We weren't sure why, but my dad thought it was cool looking.

If you look closely you can see a cross in the middle of the screen here. It is believed that one of the Emperors who lived here was Christian so he had them put a cross outside to protect him and his family.

This is the tower where the cross is.

If you noticed on the previous picture, there are many circles with designs in them. They are family crests. Each Emperor that has lived in this castle has placed his family's crest on at least one of the tiles that decorates the outside of the castle roof. I believe all of the different family crests are on this pillar. Toshi and Mami agreed happily to pose for me.

I took this picture so you could see how short and narrow some of the doorways were. This was another defense design to help slow or stop any enemy invaders.

Just me trying to be artistic. The many roofs of the castle.

Once inside the castle we were told about many great things. My dad is hugging one of 2 huge pillars that basically holds the entire weight of the castle. As you can see, even my dad can't reach all the way around the pillar, that shows how big it is.

This was a door to a storage area inside the castle.

This is an aerial map of the castle area back in the day. It shows how the moat was a spiral system and it had 3 rings. The city lived inside the different moat rings.

This is inside the castle. We had to go up 5 flights of stairs like this to get to the top.

This diagram shows how there are 5 roof tops outside but 6 floors on the inside. Another defense design to keep the Emperor safe in case of an attack.

At the top of the castle (on the inside) there is a shrine. Since we climbed to the top on January 1st, there was a large crowd, On the 1st day of the year, it is traditional for the Japanese to visit a shrine, bring gifts (sake, mochi, oranges, etc) and pray for a good new year.

This is looking out from the top of the castle. I was trying to show you some of the castle grounds from atop.

Here is that fish again. There is one on the end of each roof edge. One of my co workers explained to me why they are there. It is a legendary animal that is believed to spit water from its mouth. The Emperors wanted them on the castle as fire protection. Very interesting.

Another view from the top of Himeji-jo. This one is of the downtown area and the main street. If you look closely enough, you can see the Pacific Ocean at the edge of the land.

This is looking out to the east. The Himeji Zoo is down there (that is another post I am working on).

This is looking out towards the north. I believe our apartment is in this picture, but I am not sure where.

As we were finishing up our tour, we ran into some friends of Toshi. My mom was so excited that they were willing to let us take their picture seeing how they were all dressed up in beautiful Kimonos.

Another picture of the castle. All of the stones used for the castle had to be carried here.

Mom and Mami talking out by one of the gates into the castle.

I took this picture so you could see how huge the walls were surrounding the castle.

In this picture you will see some large rectangular stones in the wall. During the time that the castle was being built, there were not enough stones. People were asked to donate what stones they had. Some donated lanterns and other things, but some families were so poor they could only offer up the stone coffins of their deceased family members. That is what those large rectangular stones are.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of Himeji-jo. I am sure Mitch will have some more photos of it after he goes with his Mom and Aunt Mary this weekend. (Mitch took the kids home that day as it was a bit boring for them inside the castle)