Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle is a Japanese castle complex on top of a hill located in Himeji, Hyogo, Japan. This castle is considered as the best remaining example of the prototype of Japanese castle architecture. This castle is often referred to as Hakuro-jo or Shirasagi-jo (The Kingfisher or White Heron Castle) because of its unique brightness and whiteness. These nicknames were given to this castle because of its resemblance to a bird in flight.

History

Himeji Castle dates back to 1333, when Akamatsu Norimura built a castle on top of Himeyama Hill. This castle was destroyed and rebuilt as Himeyama Castle in 1346, and two centuries later it was rebuilt as Himeji Castle. Himechi Castle was then significantly rebuilt by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1581, when a third castle was added. In 1600, Takugawa Leyasu dedicated this castle to Ikeda Terumasa to help her in the Sekigahara War. Ikeda completely rebuilt the castle from 161 to 1609 and expanded it into a large castle complex.

Several other buildings were later added to this castle complex by Honda Tadamasa from 1617 to 1618. For more than 400 years, Himeji Castle survived the extensive bombing of Himeji in World War II, as well as natural disasters such as the 1955 Hangzin Great Earthquake.

Attributes

Himeji Castle is the largest and most visited castle in Japan and was registered as one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country in 1993. This area, which is located in the middle of the castle complex, is a special historical site and 5 buildings of the castle have been declared as national treasures. Along with Matsumoto Castle and Kumamoto Castle, Himeji is one of the top three castles in Japan. In order to preserve the castle buildings, restoration works were carried out over several years and it was opened to the public on March 27, 2015. These works were protected from dirt and smoke for decades and the gray color of the roof was restored to a bright white color.

Cultural heritage

This castle is featured in some world famous movies such as “You Only Live Twice” starring James Bond (1967), “The Last Samurai” (Akira Kurosawa) starring Tom Cruise (1980) and Ron ( Ran) (1985) has been used.