Himeji Bike Tour

Mitch recently posted about a bike ride we went on in April. What he failed to mention was that he gave me a personal tour of some very old sites in Himeji. Allow me to take you on our complete bike tour.

Not far from our neighborhood, is an old school for samurai children. Some purchased the building and is currently living in it. You can see that it use to have mud walls with wooden planks over the top.
It looks very old, because it is very old. Maybe a couple hundred years (remember, Himeji Castle is 400 years old and it is still standing)

This is a Christian church right in the middle of a neighborhood. I am not sure what denomination it is, but I though it was cute. Couldn't get away with a church that small in America.

Another old house with mud walls. You can see that the wood planks are coming off. It even looks like the inside burned.
This is another angle to the shrine where you go to pray for your eyesight.

This is the back side of that shirne area.

These next 4 photos go together.
This is the back side of the castle ground along the moat. You will notice something in the upper middle left side of the picture.

That is this area. Long ago, emperors brought their babies to this are of the water to be bathed. Himeji persevered the area by changing the moat.

The shrine still stands and people come here to pray for their babies. On the left side of the shrine is a water area. That was where they bathed the babies.

This is the inside of the shrine.



This field is where a hospital was during WWII.
This is the neighborhood just across the street from the empty field. Many people believe this neighborhood was saved from bombing because of the hospital. Many homes in this area are very old.
There is a cemetery just next (to the right) of those homes (click on the picture, you can see the many tombs)

By this time, the kids were getting hungry, so RJ told us ho to get to the park that he goes to with his class from school. We had a picnic there with a bento (lunch box)

RJ is great with his chop sticks.

This is onigiri. It is a ball of rice, shaped like a triangle, with something inside. This one happens to have salmon (a favorite in my family for 3 of us). Then it is wrapped in seaweed.

After our picnic, I made the family climb 91 steps to the top of a hill just to see what was on top....
There you have it. We have no idea what these cement things are in the middle of this garden. I am hoping one of my friends here in Hiemji can either read this or tell me what those cement things are.


It was a great bike tour. I am so lucky that Mitch has been able to make friends here in Himeji and learn so much about the area. Thanks for sharing Mitch!