Himeji City is located in "Harima-no-kuni" (播磨国) or "Ban-shu" (播州) which is now the southwest part of Hyogo Prefecture.
  In the ancient time, the local capital called "Harima-kokufu" (播磨国府) and the Buddhist center "Kokubun-ji" Temple (国分寺) were built here.  Since then, this city played an important political role over "Harima-no-kuni."  It has an area of 534.27 sq. km and the population is 535,571 (April 1, 2008); the density is 1,000 persons/sq. km.
  In the mid-fourteenth century, the Sadanori Akamatsu (赤松貞範) constructed the original Himeji Castle here.  Then Terumasa Ikeda (池田 輝政) expanded the castle to the present form.  The castle is also called "Shirasagi-jo" (白鷺城; lit. the White Heron Castle) because it looks like a white heron or a snowy egret.  It was designated as a national treasure in 1931 and a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 1993.
  
  
  

IMAGE	IMAGE NO.	DATA
JR Himeji Station		JR Himeji Station (JR姫路駅)
	hhj2008-001	(Tuesday 18 March) JR Himeji Station
Himeji Castle		Himeji Castle (姫路城), 68 Hom-machi, Himeji City (姫路市本町68).   In 1333 Norimura Akamatsu (赤松 則村), the ruler of Harima District (播磨国), built a fort, and in 1346, his son, Sadanori (赤松 貞範) built premises.  Later the Kotera clan (小寺氏) and the Kuroda clan (黒田氏) ruled this area.  (*Some scholars insist that the original castle was built in the middle of the sixteenth century when Shietaka Kuroda (黒田 重隆) and his son Mototaka Kuroda (黒田 職隆) ruled the district.)     When Kambei Yoshitaka Kuroda (黒田 官兵衛 孝高) ruled the district, Hideyoshi Hashiba (羽柴 秀吉; later Hideyoshi Toyotomi [豊臣 秀吉]) came to the castle in order to build his own three-storied castle.  After Sekigahara Civil War (関ヶ原の戦い) in 1600 the lord Terumasa Ikeda (池田 輝政), son-in-law of the 1st Tokugawa Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa (徳川 家康) moved into the castle to rule.  His annual salary was 520,000 koku (石) of rice.    (One koku (石) is 5 bushels of rice.)  In 1601 Terumasa Ikeda (池田 輝政) started digging three moats around the castle building and completed the whole castle complex as it is in 1609.  The outer moat is just north of JR Himeji Station today.  After the Ikeda clan, Tadamasa Honda (本田 忠政) added some buildings in the west bailey.  His annual salary was 150,000 koku of rice.  Such a wonderful magnificent castle you see today entirely finished in 1618.  After Honda family there were other lords such as the Matsudaira family (松平家), the Sakakibaras (榊原家), etc.  Finally Tadazumi Sakai (酒井 忠純?) came as the lord in 1749.  His descendant met with the Meiji Restoration here in 1868, when the Shogunate system disappeared.   The donjon with the smaller towers and corridors connecting other three towers have been registered as national treasures.  The Cosmetic Tower, 27 "yagura" (櫓), 15 gates, and 1,000 meter-long earthen walls have been registered as important cultural assets.  A part of the middle moat, and the whole inner moat remain as they were in the feudal times.  The area inside the middle moat has een registered as a special historical site.  Finally the whole castle site was registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1993.   (Main reference: The Official Pamphlet of Himeji-jo Castle)
	hhj2008-007	(Tuesday 18 March) The plaque of Himeji Castle as a national treasure
	hhj2008-011	(Tuesday 18 March) Himeji Castle, viewed from Ote-mon Gate (大手門)
	hhj2008-014	(Tuesday 18 March) Himeji Castle, viewed from Ote-mon Gate (大手門)
	hhj2008-016	(Tuesday 18 March) Ote-mon Gate (大手門) of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-018	(Tuesday 18 March) The plaque of Himeji Castle as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
	hhj2008-020	(Tuesday 18 March) Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-021	(Tuesday 18 March) The donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-025	(Tuesday 18 March) The illustration map of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-027	(Tuesday 18 March) The inner gate to Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-029	(Tuesday 18 March) The donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-031	(Tuesday 18 March) Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-032	(Tuesday 18 March) The donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-035	(Tuesday 18 March) The donjon of Himeji Castle, viewed from the West Bailey (西の丸) area
	hhj2008-036	(Tuesday 18 March) Himeji The donjon of Himeji Castle, vewed from the West Bailey (西の丸) area
	hhj2008-039	(Tuesday 18 March) The donjon of Himeji Castle, vewed from the West Bailey (西の丸) area
	hhj2008-042	(Tuesday 18 March) "Koshi-kuruwa" (腰曲輪) in the West Bailey (西の丸), Himeji Castle.  A long storehouse situated at the back of the main tower was called "Koshi-kuruwa" or a waist building.  This is where they kept rice and salt in case the castle was besieged.  It has also a well in it.   The building was built along with a low hill which has a slight and gentle curve.  That's why the roof line has a beautiful curve, which is not seen anywhere else.
	hhj2008-044	(Tuesday 18 March) "Watari-yagura" (渡櫓; the corridor tower) in the West Bailey (西の丸), Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-045	(Tuesday 18 March) The ceiling of the "Watari-yagura" (渡櫓; the corridor tower) in the West Bailey (西の丸), Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-046	(Tuesday 18 March) Wooden stairs of "Watari-yagura" (渡櫓; the corridor tower) in the West Bailey (西の丸), Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-050	(Tuesday 18 March) "Watari-yagura" (渡櫓; the corridor tower) in the West Bailey (西の丸), Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-053	(Tuesday 18 March) "Kesho-yagura (化粧櫓; lit. the cosmetic tower), Himeji Castle.  Princess Sen (千姫, 1597-1666) lived here happily as the legal wife of Tadatoki Honda (本多 忠刻), son of Tadamasa Honda (本多 忠政).  She was the eldest daughter of the 2nd Shogun Hidetada Tokugawa (徳川 秀忠) and, widow of the tragic Hideyori Toyotomi (豊臣 秀頼).
	hhj2008-054	(Tuesday 18 March) "Kesho-yagura (化粧櫓; lit. the cosmetic tower), Himeji Castle.  Princess Sen (千姫, 1597-1666) lived here happily as the legal wife of Tadatoki Honda (本多 忠刻), son of Tadamasa Honda (本多 忠政).  She was the eldest daughter of the 2nd Shogun Hidetada Tokugawa (徳川 秀忠) and, widow of the tragic Hideyori Toyotomi (豊臣 秀頼).
	hhj2008-056	(Tuesday 18 March) The donjon of Himeji Castle, viewed from "Ni-no-maru "(二の丸) or the intermediate outworks of the castle
	hhj2008-057	(Tuesday 18 March) The donjon of Himeji Castle, viewed from "Ni-no-maru "(二の丸) or the intermediate outworks of the castle
	hhj2008-059	(Tuesday 18 March) "Ni-no-maru "(二の丸) or the intermediate outworks of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-062	(Tuesday 18 March) "Ni-no-maru "(二の丸) or the intermediate outworks of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-064	(Tuesday 18 March) "Ni-no-maru "(二の丸) or the intermediate outworks of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-065	(Tuesday 18 March) Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-067	(Tuesday 18 March) The donjon of Himeji Castle, viewed from "Ni-no-maru "(二の丸) or the intermediate outworks
	hhj2008-068	(Tuesday 18 March) The lower part of the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-070	(Tuesday 18 March) The collection of family crest tiles of lords related to Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-071	(Tuesday 18 March) The lower part of the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-072	(Tuesday 18 March) The lower part of the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-073	(Tuesday 18 March) A gate to the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-074	(Tuesday 18 March) Another gate to the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-075	(Tuesday 18 March) The lower part o the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-077	(Tuesday 18 March) The well adjacent to the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-078	(Tuesday 18 March) The donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-080	(Tuesday 18 March) The donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-082	(Tuesday 18 March) The donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-083	(Tuesday 18 March) Inside of the donjon of Himeji Castle.  From the outside this main tower appears to have five stories.  Somehow there are six stories and one basement floor inside.  The tower has two main pillars whose diameters are nearly one meter.  The base of the east one was replaced with new stuff, and the west one was swapped with new one in the Showa Restoration (1956-1964).
	hhj2008-084	(Tuesday 18 March) A collection of Japanese spears.  Inside of the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-085	(Tuesday 18 March) Inside of the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-087	(Tuesday 18 March) Corridors of the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-089	(Tuesday 18 March) Osakabe-jinjya Shrine (長壁神社) the Shinto shrine at the top of the main tower.  This shrine was built at the top of the hill where the castle stands now.  When they planned to build the castle where the shrine was, they moved it to another place.  Afterwards people felt nature's curse, and they relocated the shrine inside of the donjon.  It has a famous legend that Musashi Miyamoto (宮本 武蔵, 1584?-1645), a great swordsman killed haunting there.
	hhj2008-090	(Tuesday 18 March) A view from the top floor of the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-091	(Tuesday 18 March) A view from the top floor of the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-092	(Tuesday 18 March) A view from the top floor of the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-093	(Tuesday 18 March) A view from the top floor of the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-096	(Tuesday 18 March) The skeleton model of the donjon of Himeji Castle
	hhj2008-098	(Tuesday 18 March) Okiku's Well (お菊の井戸), Himeji Castle.  This castle has a famous ghost story called "Banshu Sara-Yashiki" (播州皿屋敷).  Once the maidservant named "Okiku" (お菊), serving the lord of the castle happened to know the wicked chief retainer's plot that he was going to kill the lord and that he was to be the lord of the castle in his place.  She saved the lord.  Later the retainer found himself that it was she who interfered the plot, and he took revenge by stealing purposely one of the ten treasure dishes.  She was tortured to death on the charge of missing the dish without exculpating herself.  Then the chief retainer threw her dead body into this well.  (Quoted from the Official Pamphlet of Himeji-jo Castle)
	hhj2008-099	(Tuesday 18 March) Okiku's Well (お菊の井戸), Himeji Castle.  This well has been haunted by the poor maid "Okiku" since then as some people believe.

        

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