A Castle's Castle

Today was an awesome day.  See that picture to the left (or, "right," for you dyslexic folks out there).  That my friends is one of the only remaining original castles in Japan and boy is it a cool one.

As has been the routine for a few days now, we woke up nice and early to catch a ride on the Shinkansen, although this time was for a much farther trip to the town of Himeiji.

With four hours of on-and-off sleep we felt pretty rested despite having left the house a little after 6:00 in the AM.  Right from the platform we were greeted to a lovely model of the castle and a large yellow sign leading pointing us on our way.

Winding through a series of catacombing shops we popped onto the ground level with the castle in plain sight on the horizon.  It's amazing that even in the modern day, with skyscrapers throughout the city, how the castle can still manage to loom over everything.

The walk would have taken us around 15 minutes but having skipped a true breakfast we were all hungry.  Much to our surprise though there were few food outlets and even the ones we could find weren't open until after 2:00 in the afternoon.  Out of luck we stooped to the level of McDonalds, where I enjoyed a thoroughly gross Big Mac.

With food in stomach, and a herd of people in front of us, we made our way to the castle entrance.  As with all things in Japanese the motto I have given them rang true once again, "We build lines - you stand in them." 

Approximately one hour of line standing led us into the series of chokepoints leading into the inner castle.  Although the castle had never been attacked during it's active life, I can only imagine there would have been a blood bath for the apposing forces. 

Staggered along the way were multiple towers and openings for gun and arrow fire.  Secret holes for warriors to hide in lined the walls.  Boiling pots of water would have been poured over gates on to forces.  Spears thrust into men's sides as they climbed through gates.  Maybe the best defense isn't a good offense after all.

Inside of the main tower were six floors, each with a different pourpose.  Some were for storage of weapons, while others were for storage of food.  The sixth and final floor was closed to the public, but it was said to have gold plating.  I can only imagine that it was used for a last hiding spot if for the local ruler.

With every inch of the building you could feel as if you were walking through living history.  You could imagine the the arrows flying as you picked off invading forces.  You could see the rice patty being tended beyond the middle wall.  All together, the history, the beauty and the mystery, made today and awesome day.

 To see today's pictures - click here.