Himeji Castle Adventure... Continued

Okay, So sorry I have kept you waiting on an update of two weekends ago. I am just terrible like that I guess. Things have been so incredibly busy here I have not had the spare time to sit down and write what I really wanted to say, therefore, no blog up until this point. I apologize sincerely.

So, the first day of my weekend, was Sunday. I decided that I had been really wanting to get out and see Himeji Castle and that I hadn't really been exploring very much in the past week. I got up early, got dressed, and was blessed with a beautiful day. The sun was shining and I was going on an adventure. I had Billy Joel 'The Entertainer' playing on my ipod and I was almost skipping to the train station in anticipation. 

When I got to the square in front of the Japan Rail Station, I noticed a lot of people were there. I was curious so I walked into the crowd to find that they were having a large sale of goods. It was like a multi-family garage sale. Fantastic! I looked around at each families unwanteds and decided that maybe I would come back later to purchase something. Japanese garage sales are much more interesting than American ones. 

I bought my ticket to Himeji and was on my way. The train ride was long and I had to switch trains once. I do believe it took me about one and a half hours on the way there due to the changeover. No problem. I learned some Japanese on my way and took notes in a notebook. At one point I even dropped my cap to my green tea bottle, which subsequently rolled down the isle and stopped next to an elderly woman's foot. She then proceeded to look at the cap, then back out the window. I wanted to just leave it there, however, my bottle of tea was still full and I wanted to have it to drink for the day. I finally got up the nerve to go over and say 'excuse me' in Japanese and pick it up. It was fantastic because she just ignored me the whole time. Hah

Well, then we arrived in Himeji. I got off the train and headed north. I had caught a glimpse of the Castle on the way into the station and had a perfect idea of how to get to it. It was very easy to see and was sitting high up on a hill in all of it's glory.  When I was walking out of the train station I found my second Cafe Du Monde. I didn't want to stop for a coffee today though, so I just kept on trekking to my destination. 

When I arrived at the gates I was blown away by the beautiful castle that stood before me. It looked so proud and prestigious, which is probably one of the main reasons that Japan named it a World Cultural Heritage spot in 1992. I walked across the bridge over the mote to the castle and in through the gates. This opened up to a huge field that was surrounded in unbloomed cherry blossom trees (sakura). I could tell that this place would be where I wanted to go to see the blossoms once they had bloomed. To the right there is a small zoo. I walked up and on the field, where some families were sitting and having lunch and others were playing soccer and taking pictures. It was a sunny day, which I had not been lucky enough to experience in a long time so I was eager to just sit down and soak up it up. 

Finally, after a few pictures and a little sun, I paid my 600 yen and went into the castle. I was presented with a map of the castle grounds in English, much to my delight, and I headed first to the west part of the castle which boasts the West Bailey Building. This building was built for the Princess and later her and her husband. The long corridor that you walk down had many windows and the ladies quarters, for women that were responsible for taking care of the Princess, was amazing and built all in beautiful wood. This is one of the few castles built mostly of wood, that still stands in mostly it's original form. Most of the other castles had been burned down in the past. This castle was built in 1346. 

After this I walked toward the main building. Here I encountered what my younger brother has been asking me about for months. A Ninja. Yes, that is right, I saw a ninja in Himeji castle. He was dressed in all black and you could only see his eyes. He carried a sword and when someone yelled "look a ninja!" he ran up a wall to their delight. I wanted badly to take a photo with this ninja to prove that he was not just a manifestation, however, I refused to be like the 'stupid Americans' behind me that yelled "look a ninja!" at a beautiful, serene Castle. 

Finally  I made it to the Main part of the castle. There are a few things that are interesting an unique about this castle. First of all, the stone that holds the castle up is very unique. It has what is called a fan curve, which means that they have a slight curve at the corner, appearing like an open fan. You can see this from my photos :). 

The second interesting thing about this castle is that when you look at it, it appears to have only 5 levels, but it in fact had six stories and a basement. 

Also, like many of the castles in Japan, there are small holes in the wall that have more narrow openings on the outside of the wall. They were used to throw rocks, spears, and other objects at people that were attacking the castle or trying to scale the walls. They were made narrow at the outer end so that no one would be able to throw things back at them. 

The view from the top was breathtaking. However, it takes quite a long time to walk up all of the incredibly steep stairs to the top and I feared many times that the tiny older ladies in front of me were going to slip back and fall. Somehow, we all managed to make it to the top where there is a stamp of the castle, a small shrine, and an amazing view perfect for photos. 

After this I climbed down and decided to explore one more part of the castle before I headed out to find something for lunch and to explore more of Himeji. I wanted to see the Harakiri-maru. This place is the building where the samurai performed their ritual suicide. They think that the well in the courtyard area was used to wash the beheaded. It was a small building and I tried to imagine what it must have been like back then. So much honor. Truly amazing. 

Finally I left the castle. I had a snack from a local vendor of takoyaki and then I found a shop where a man was selling used Yukatas, which are like an informal Kimono worn in summer especially for festivals. I was amazed at the price being so low so I bought one that is orange and looks like it has the scales of a coy. It is absolutely amazing, and for the price, what a steal. 

I doubt I will ever wear it out in public, but maybe sometime just for fun! :)