Castle sights in Himeji

1. Himeji-jō

   • Himeji, Japan
   • Sights › Castle

   The most magnificent castle in Japan, Himeji-jō is also one of only a handful of original castles in the country (most others are modern concrete reconstructions). In Japanese it is sometimes called shirasagi, or 'white heron', a title that derives from the castle's stately white form.

   Although there have been fortifications in Himeji since 1333, today's castle was built in 1580 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and enlarged some 30 years later by Ikeda Terumasa. Ikeda was awarded the castle by Tokugawa Ieyasu when the latter's forces defeated the Toyotomi armies. In the following centuries it was home to 48 successive lords.

   The castle has a five-storey main keep (tenshū) and three…

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