Who knows where we are…? That’s right - Himeji Castle. What’s that got to do with commandos you say? Really? I’m disappointed. Go and watch “You Only Live Twice”. Then come back and read the rest.
Thats right. Where Bond asks Tiger if he has commandos, Tiger responded that he has ninjas and this is his top secret training camp - Himeji castle.
Himeji was a stop over point for us leaving Kyoto for Hiroshima. It was a horrible day, non-stop rain. Fortunate the majority of the walk from the station to the castle was under cover through a shopping street, but we had to buy umbrellas as the last 400 metres or so weren’t covered.
Built in 1333, the particularly interesting fact about it is that it’s almost completely original. It was built to withstand great sieges, but never saw any. That’s why it’s survived, it hasn’t even caught fire! This makes it pretty unique in Japanese castles. During the Second World War it came it’s closest to destruction when, even though it was disguised with black paint to hide it, a firebomb dropped on it. But failed to explode.
Walking up through the grounds to the main keep naturally all I had in my head was the soundtrack to You Only Live Twice, which sometimes escaped my inside voice and managed to firmly seat itself in Carol’s head, much to her annoyance! Despite looking like it has 5 floors, it actually has 7, as the top floor is actually 2 floors and it has a basement . As you enter into the basement you can see the 2 main pillars. The east pillar was made from a single fir and apart from some minor restoration at the bottom is original. The west pillar has been restored and is made from 2 trees joined together on the third floor. We managed to get to the top and the views were impressive, you can see why no-one bothered to attack it, there could be no element of surprise at all.
Eventually we came back down and decided to have some lunch, we found a beef bar and had Kobe beef, which was some of the best beef I’ve had in Japan.
A stroll back to the train station and we waited for 45 minutes or so for our next bullet train to Hiroshima. Our next hotel, the Sheraton, was fortunately at the train station so we were in and settled in no time. And we have actual proper beds And chairs with legs! Anyone who says that futons are comfortable to sleep on hasn’t slept on one for 6 nights straight…
