Himeji

Hello everybody! In today's post I would like to describe my favourite Japanese castle-Himeji-jou, which is also called "White Heron Castle". This feudal castle is located in the town of the same name in the Hyougo prefecture . It is worth noting that Himeji-jou is a part of UNESCO World Heritage Site and belongs to the most popular monuments in Japan. The name "White Heron Castle" comes from its elegant, white appearance that resembles a flying bird. After a long renovation period, in 2015 Himeji-jou was finally completed and reopened for visitors. Despite of renovation, Himeji castle by a miracle was not destroyed during World War II bombing. From Kyoto or Osaka it takes about one hour of shinkansen ride to get to Himeji. 

We came to the city in the morning, because apart from visiting the castle we wanted to see the Kokoen Garden and visit Kobe's Chinese festival in one of the most famous Japanese China Towns. Fortunately, we quickly found the castle. From the JR station, it was about 15 minutes along the main road! As it turned out later, we were lucky coming to Himeji in the morning, because after 2 hours at the front of the castle lined up huge line of people. 

The sightseeing takes about two hours, during which we saw the inside of the castle, walls and grounds among the walls. It is worth mentioning that Himeji-jou has preserved the interior, and not, as in the case of the other Japanese castles like : Hiroshima, Osaka or Nagoya, where the traditional interior design was abandoned in favour of a modern interactive museum.

Himeji Castle did not disappoint me! The weather was good, and the views from the castle windows were breathtaking. Combined ticket for the castle and Kokoen Garden costs only 1,030 yen, about 30 zloty's. 

Although at first I did not know is it really worth to visit the Kokoen Garden, now I would recommend it to everyone! Right after the Kanazawa's garden, the Kokoen is the most beautiful garden I had seen in Japan! First of all, this garden is an landscape made of several small gardens that perfectly connect the water and greenery. Passing the parts of the garden you can admire the azure waterfalls, lakes full of colourful koi, small streams  surrounded by a lush and intense greenery. IF you ever go to Himeji, you definitely must visit the Kokoen Garden!