Himeji

Today, we had our first shinkansen experience out to Himeji castle. We picked up our first eki bento (bento box sold at shinkansen stations for consumption on trains, usually with a local flair) and zipped off to Himeji.

Himeji Castle, also known as White Heron Castle due to its elegant, white appearance, is widely considered Japan's most spectacular castle for its imposing size and beauty and its well preserved, complex castle grounds. Unlike many other Japanese castles, it was never destroyed by war, earthquake or fire and survives to this day as one of the country's 12 original castles.

Like all tourist attractions in Japan, it's recommended that you get an early start to beat the rush. We arrived a little before 8:30 (not very early in my books, but Keanan may disagree, haha) and enjoyed the outer grounds of the castle with a relatively small number of other people. We were still too early for cherry blossoms, which was a little disappointing since this is supposed to be one of the best places to view them, but the castle grounds were expansive and impressive nonetheless. When the ticket gates opened at 9, we were quick to grab 2 of the 10 spots on the English tour for the day. While we waited for the tour to begin, we did a quick loop through Kokoen gardens, which are beautifully landscaped and we would have loved to have had more time to view them at a more relaxed pace.

We then returned for our tour of the castle! It was great having a guide to narrate as we passed through the labyrinth-like approach from the main gate to the main keep. This approach leads along walled paths and through multiple gates and baileys with the purpose to slow down and expose attacking forces. The main keep is 6 stories, and was mainly used as storage for food and weapons, as no one ever lived in this keep and the castle was never attacked.

On the way back to the train station, we stopped for some delicious soba noodles, before zipping back to Kobe for a stop at the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum. We enjoyed learning about the Japanese carpentry and joinery used in the architecture we've been seeing and even got to try out some planes and other finishing tools!

Back at our hotel, we tuned in for the final match ups of the sumo tournament and a quick rest before dinner. Dinner was okonomiyaki, a savory pancake osaka is known for. The place we tried was one that Keanan had found on Google maps. When we finally located it in the narrow twisting alleyways of the train station, the line extended down the entire hallway. The Japanese couple in front of us struck up a Google translate conversation with us, apparently shocked that we had discovered this place, but ensured us we were in for a treat! It definitely did not disappoint! Back at our room, we packed up, as tomorrow we're leaving Osaka and are off on a more off the beaten path adventure!もっと詳しく