Himeji Castle: UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site registered in 1993.
In this video, we take a tour of Himeji Castle and check out some of the interesting defensive design aspects of this castle.
Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture was first built by Hideyoshi Toyotomi in 1581 after taking the original fortress. Himeji Castle's history begins in 1333 when Akamatsu Norimura first built a small fort on the top of Himeyama Hill. This fort was quickly remodeled and rebuilt in 1346 and its name changed to Himeyama Castle. In the late 1500s, Toyotomi took over the castle and completely rebuilt it to include a 3-story keep. The castle took on the name Himeji Castle. However, Ieyasu Tokugawa later took over the castle in 1600 after beating Toyotomi in the Battle of Sekigahara. After the battle, Tokugawa awarded the castle to Terumasa Ikeda, Tokugawa's son-in-law, as a reward for his support during the Battle of Sekigahara. In 1601 Ikeda completely rebuilt the castle making it what we see today. In 1617, Tadamasa Honda took over the castle and further expanded the grounds to include several other structures that are still present today.
Throughout Himeji Castle you can see several different family crests which indicates the different families that have come to reside or take over the castle in its long history. These crests can be seen on the clay tiles that are all over the castle grounds. This castle was designed to be a formidable structure to frighten away any attack. Ieyasu requested that the castle be rebuilt to protect the East (Edo) from Toyotomi who had lost in the Battle of Sekigahara.
After winning the Battle of Sekigahara, the Tokugawa Shogunate began which lasted from 1601 to 1858 just before the start of the Meiji Restoration. Himeji Castle was designed to be an ever present structure that will not be easily passed.
The interesting thing about Himeji Castle is the defensive designs built into the grounds. The castle was extremely modern in the fact that the entire complex has wide and narrow pathways and short and tall passageways causing a lot of psychological confusion to any would-be attacker. The castle had never been attacked, but if it were it would be hopeless to seize it due to the many twist and turns that would lead attackers into dead ends or narrow corridors where an attack can be stopped. Also, a lot of passageways are built low on purpose to keep an attackers head low so that he will lose sight of the forward direction making him vulnerable to an attack from above.
The Himeji Castle is one of the most beautiful castles in Japan giving it the name of White Heron Castle (Shirasaji-jo) or White Egret Castle (Hakuro-jo). The white comes from plaster derived from the ocean. This white facade makes it appear like a bird from the distance.
If you get the chance to visit Himeji Castle, it is definitely worth the historical visit.
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