Today we went to Himeji, and climbed to the top of their beautiful and historic castle. We had a guided tour, in English, so we could take in all the details of this Historic National treasure of Japan.

The Castle was built in the 16th century by the rulers of the district. It changed ownership several times, and was once home to Princess Sen, the eldest daughter of the second Shogun in the Takugawa Government. Princess Sen had a dramatic, sometimes romantic, but mostly tragic life.

There were lots of defense systems built into the castle, such as slots for aiming arrows and muskets, openings for throwing stones on climbers, and provisions for dumping boiling water on attacking armies. Also moats, heavy rock walls, and iron reinforced doors all over.

As is the case everywhere in Japan right now, the Cherry Blossoms made the sight stunning.

Everyone climbed all the way to the top, which was no easy feat given the steep and sometimes uneven steps, and the fact that much of the climb had to be accomplished in slippers (indoors).

Our guide told us that the castle has been a popular movie site, and was used by Hollywood in the James Bond picture “You only Live Twice”, and in the mini-series/movie “Shogun”.

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