Himeji Castle
This Unesco World Heritage site is sometimes known as the "White Heron" castle due to it's white exterior walls. Originally completed in 1346, it was almost completely rebuilt around 1600. Major restoration was undertaken in the 1950's and indeed is about to recommence with a project planned for the next 5 years. We were lucky indeed to see this exterior before the main work had begun.
The location, design and structure is essentially a defensive one. There are a number of outer wall and water defenses, followed by a complex maze of doorways, courtyards and dead-ends. Each floor could then also be defended. Below, an historic painting taken from the internet shows this quite well....the painting is freely available and in the public domain. You can also see a photo that I took in daylight.
Himeji Castle
This Unesco World Heritage site is sometimes known as the "White Heron" castle due to it's white exterior walls. Originally completed in 1346, it was almost completely rebuilt around 1600. Major restoration was undertaken in the 1950's and indeed is about to recommence with a project planned for the next 5 years. We were lucky indeed to see this exterior before the main work had begun.
The location, design and structure is essentially a defensive one. There are a number of outer wall and water defenses, followed by a complex maze of doorways, courtyards and dead-ends. Each floor could then also be defended. Below, an historic painting taken from the internet shows this quite well....the painting is freely available and in the public domain. You can also see a photo that I took in daylight.