We had originally thought to visit the Nagoya palace that Alastair had recommended, as a waypoint between Takamatsu and Kyoto. However it was a little out of the way, and also we realised that that our most direct route passed through Himeji, home to what is considered Japan's best feudal-era castle, so that's what we headed for.
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| Himeji Castle |
Unfortunately Japan's marvellous train system had several hiccups, starting with "vehicle trouble" in the morning, which led to our train sitting still beside a paddock for 15 minutes, and us missing the connection we'd been aiming for at Okayama. With a Japan Rail Pass, that was no problem, as we simply jumped on the next train in the same direction, losing only 30 minutes or so. We were soon into Himeji, where we managed to lock the camera into a bag in our coin locker, and had to release it and pay all over again.
The castle was a short walk from the station, and it is indeed a fantastic structure. Seven stories tall, and made from vast numbers of absolutely massive timber posts and beams. The building itself was worth seeing, but we were very disappointed by the lack of context. No contents to illustrate how it might have been used, no tools or weapons or furniture or models, just the bare building. We also had to shuffle around in silly slippers which were tricky for climbing the very steep stairs, as they kept trying to fall off. So an interesting visit, but one which could have been enormously better.
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| That post centre-right is one single trunk! |
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| Amazing solid construction - needs to be to hold up 6 stories |
The weather was back to being cold, below 10 degrees and a bitter wind blowing. We wondered if there might be snow up in the mountains where we will be walking, and looking at the forecast later we found that indeed there would be 3 days with some snow. Our walk may be quite cool, and in snow, both of which sound like fun as we are well-equipped.
Thankfully the ticket included a visit to the adjoining Koko-en Garden. This was a delight, once we finally managed to find it. A totally different scale to the big gardens we'd seen previously. It was a series of linked but self-contained walled gardens, each on a different theme, recently built but in Edo period style. The carp in the garden were the biggest we've ever seen, probably some 70cm and fat as can be.
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| Lovely smaller-scale gardens |
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| Perfect place for a tea-house |
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| Best spring blossom yet |
I've just realised that the days of Japanese having to put themselves in every single photo seems to have passed - we've seen remarkably few selfie-takers.
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| Straw-covered sake barrels |
Back on the trains, and we headed for Kyoto. A bus to our room and we were all set for exploring the following day.