Himejijo (Castle) and Engyoji (Temple)
We took a day trip from Osaka to Himeji on a local ‘Special Rapid’ train which took us an hour from Osaka station. From Himeji station we could see the castle and we walked 15 minutes to the entrance. Japan is another step to being fully open to foreign tourists, so it was great to experience these sites before the huge crowds return.
Himeji-jo
Himeji-jo is arguably the most famous castle in Japan, and well preserved since it had never been destroyed by earthquakes, fires or wars. Some parts are still original from the early 1600s when it was rebuilt during the heyday of feudal Japan. The entire site consists of an outer moat, several layers of walls, gardens and keeps.
After crossing a bridge across the moat, we head through the main gate.
Our first nice view of the castle. Bring lots of sunscreen and water, it’s a trek to climb up towards the keep. Heading up with a full suit of armor and weapons must have been exhausting back in the day.
Winding up towards each subsequent gate, there are fortifications and walls with openings for archers and gunners to mow down the invasion. Each gate is also a choke point so only a small number of soldiers can pass through.
As you approach, the 6-story main keep looks pretty intimidating, imagine a rain of arrows and musket fire from above.
Once inside the main keep, the castle was actually quite cool inside with a nice breeze coming through the many slitted windows. The views are quite incredible, this is looking back at the station at the end of the street.
The are steep stairs up to each level, the top one being the size of a modest apartment. There is a shrine there, to pay respects to the gods.
There are gardens and small museum displays to check out, but the heat outside was pretty intense so we made our way to the ‘shotengai’ (covered market street) nearby and found a lunch spot. In hindsight, we should have just eaten at one of the restaurants right in front of the castle, there was actually more stores open and choices there, even if a bit more touristy.
Shoshazan and Engyoji
On top of a nearby hill, there lies a large Buddhist temple complex. We took the local bus to the ‘ropeway’ (tram) station and bought round trip tickets to the top of the hill. While they call it ‘Mount’ Shosha, its only about 300 meters high and hike-able. Once at the top of the tram ride, there is about another 30 minutes hike up to the first main temple. Luckily there are lots of trees and it’s a bit cooler up here. We found a big bell we could ring, some gates and small shrines along the way.
The Maniden sits on a small rocky cliff, which gives it a nice feel amongst the trees when looking out from the outer halls.
The Daikodo and 2 more structures makes a courtyard. The complex has been around for about 1000 years, these 3 structures originally built in the 1400s and periodically renovated over the years. A number of movies have been filmed here, it is quite impressive and peaceful at the same time.
This used to be a dorm for monks, they must have meditated from here for days.
Training hall makes for the 3rd building.
The temple complex has quite a few more buildings, which we didn’t get around to seeing. The whole complex would take about 4-5 hours to experience fully, so we’ll come back in the fall when the leaves change colors. There are many little statues and sculptures along the paths.
We felt like we were being watched, then we spotted these little guys.
Summary
Our first day trip out of Osaka is going to be hard to beat! The two contrasting historic sites really lived up to their reputations and M couldn’t stop raving about them. She actually suggested going to Himeji, since it was in one of her educational apps. There is quite a bit of walking involved, but worth every step and definitely a day for bringing out the camera.
We bought some anago (Conger eel) sushi on the way home, apparently Himeji is known for it. Since it was getting late, we picked up some bentos and fresh off the iron Gozasoro manjus.