Page 224 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Japan

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HIMEJI-JO

姫路城
! D5 ⌂ Half a mile (1 km) N of Himeji Stn, Hyogo Prefecture  Himeji Stn, Shinkansen
EXPERIENCE Western Honshu taking flight, with its plastered walls stretching either side of the main donjon. For
line # 9am–4pm daily (to 5pm May–Aug) ∑ himeji-kanko.jp

Better known as Shirasagi-jo, the “white egret castle,” Himeji-jo resembles a bird
many people its military architecture, ameliorated by these graceful aesthetic lines,
qualifies Himeji-jo as the ultimate samurai castle.

The castle’s main donjon was developed by Ikeda
Terumasa in 1609, transforming a modest military
stronghold into a symbol of the Tokugawa
shogunate’s newly consolidated power. With its
undulating dormer and Chinese gables, the tower
is undendiably beautiful, but it was also built to
withstand attack. Angled chutes set at numerous
points in the walls enabled stones, boiling oil,
and water to be dropped on the heads of any
invaders. On the roof, dolphin-like shachi-gawara
motifs were thought to protect the donjon from
fire, while the portholes, in the shape of circles,
triangles, and rectangles, were used by
musketeers and archers. Admiring samurai armor in
Originally an armaments store, the interior the Museum of Weaponry
remains largely unadorned and houses exhibits
relating to castle life. The Museum of Weaponry
displays samurai arms and armor, as well as guns
and pouches of gun powder, introduced to Japan
by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The
uppermost chamber offers panoramas on four
sides over Himeji, but the main donjon’s exterior
is far more awe-inspiring than its stark interior.

Better known as Shirasagi-jo, the
“white egret castle,” Himeji-jo
resembles a bird taking flight,
with its plastered walls stretching A shachi-gawara statue on
either side of the main donjon. the roof of the main donjon

Timeline 1333 1600 1609 1749
▲ Battle of Sekigahara,
▲ Norimura Akamatsu
▲ Sakai Tadasumi and
▲ The five­story donjon
descendants live in the
after which Ikeda
is completed.
builds a fort in a stra­
tegic location on top
Restoration of 1867.
with Himeji­jo.
of a hillock at Himeji. Terumasa is rewarded castle until the Meiji
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