19042009 Himeji Castle

I made lots of snap decisions at the very last minute, and this is one of them.

While we were at the obaachan’s place back in Miyajima, I told her that I had plans to travel along the Seto Inland Sea, to maybe Shikoku, but she brushed off the idea saying that there was nothing to see. My alternative idea was to head north up to Nagano, and she said that it would be probably a better bet, but still, there was nothing much in her opinion.

And Luong from Vietnam was asking me to follow her to Kanagawa, but after counting the money that I have left, I could only afford to go one place. So I woke up early in the morning before she left to tell her that I can’t join her, then proceeded to the counter to book my bus tickets to Nagano. The tickets cost a hefty 11,000yen for two way to and from Osaka. Told them I would pick it up later in the day.

With that settled, I headed out to Himeji to see the Himeji Castle. It took about an hour and 45 minutes from the center of Osaka, and I almost took the wrong train. The weather was great, but a little warm for spring. Getting off at Himeji station, I could almost see the castle. The way to it wasn’t difficult either, as it was a straight wide road leading right up to the entrance. People were telling me that it wasn’t too crowded as the sakura season just ended here. A week earlier and it would be jam-packed with people coming for the flower-viewing activities.

The castle ground was like a giant maze, but compare to the Osaka castle which was rebuilt with modern furnishing, this still retained most of its original state and charm, and I couldn’t help feeling enthusiastic about it as I walked on. This hike around the castle would last over an hour.

Also made a beeline to enter the castle and view its interior. Displays of the castle’s map and design were up, including the old firearms used in the bygone era hung on the walls, left only with evidence that it was once used by people in the distant past.

They had a special tower open today for ‘special viewing’. Counted myself lucky and went ahead. We had to line up and the steps were very very narrow, but it was worth the squeeze. The view from this special part of the castle was better than the main one which was open all the time.

On the way out, passed by an area which was used for the seppuku ritual, literally cutting their stomach open in an honorific act of suicide.

Also saw the well which claimed the ghost of Okiku still dwelled. They said that she could still be heard weeping and counting the plates late at night around the area, though I’m not sure how true that is.