This is a post for two days worth of stuff. I went to Osaka Castle yesterday with two friends and explored Shinsaibashi/Namba districts. Today, I went to Himeji Castle even with the really crappy weather. TBH, I’ll just say that Himeji has been the best place I’ve been to so far during my stay here in Japan. There’s just so much history there. Let’s get on with a little background on both castles.
For those who don’t know, Osaka castle has a pretty vivid history. The main important thing is that this was the site where the last remnants of Hideyoshi’s allies were defeated by Tokugawa forces. His son(supposedly) and mother committed suicide before Tokugawa agents could get to them. This ensured the Tokugawa shogunate’s legitimacy and from here on there was no major opposition till the Bakumatsu period. Osaka Castle both inside and out has been largely restored, though unlike Himeji, the inside has been turned into a museum that chronicles its history. It’s also much bigger and has more floors(8 vs 6).
As you can see, it’s pretty nice for its actual age. From the 2nd floor till about the 7th floor, no pictures are allowed and each floor contains various historical replicas, relics, and information about Osaka Castle’s 400 year+ history. It costs 1000 yen(roughly 10 dollars) to enter and view the sites. You can either go straight up via elevator to the 7th floor or climb stairs while viewing the exhibits on each floor(the way I did it). The main exhibits on the 5th and 6th floor talk about the Winter and Summer Campaign where Tokugawa allies and Hideyoshi’s vassals fought against each other. I really liked it and from there we just went to Osaka’s Shinsaibashi/Namba shopping districts where I got to eat some takoyaki and ice-cream. It was a pretty fun day and I was beat by the end of it.
Today, I visited Himeji castle with a friend. Himeji Castle is even older than Osaka, well, at least its beginnings are(Wiki says around 1333). This was confirmed in some of the exhibits they had in the castle. Hideyoshi also had a hand in its expansion as well as Tokugawa’s vassals. This castle unlike Osaka’s Castle has survived the ages and was recently just re-opened to the public last year via restoration. They are doing some work though right now on the west side of the main keep because it is a largely wooden structure and the plaster needs redoing. On top of Himeji castle being one of the finest examples of Japanese castle architecture, it’s also a UNESCO World Heritage site and Japanese National Treasure.
This is the main keep area as you’re making your way back to the entrance. I took this after exiting the inside of it. So, how to get here is pretty simple. If you’re coming from Tokyo with a JR pass, you can just take the Shinkansen to Hakata and it’ll stop at Himeji Station. From there, you can walk less than a 3/4 of a mile or take a bus to the front of the park area. If you’re coming from Kyoto like I did, you take the same Shinkansen. From Kyoto, it’s about less than a hr to get there. From Tokyo, prob 3.5 or so.
Officially, the castle closes at 17:00(5:00pm)but you can stay there till 6pm if you already entered beforehand. It costs 1,000 yen as well to enter, 1,040 if you want to see the gardens. I picked the first due to getting there later than I had wanted. It has two main paths. One of which leads to western bailey with the quarters of ladies in waiting and the women who lived in the castle, the other path the main keep.
I went through the Main Keep path first and I can assure you it has remained largely the way it probably has been since it was expanded by Hideyoshi and Tokugawa vassals. It is impossible to not feel the history as you go from floor to floor. You can see it, touch it, smell it and hear it as the floor creaks while you walk on it. Each floor had a little stand with information about reinforced pillars, construction techniques, roof tile patterns, and even the windows. Moreover, it also had information on how the castle and this keep would defend itself from attack. There were tiny sliding areas which could have samurai ambush attackers. Places to shoot arrows and guns from that were wide enough for those behind the protection to attack, but narrow enough so they were protected from attackers outside.
Here’s an example.
This exhibit on the third floor describes the ambushing places I talked about. There were also windows that could be opened so that gunsmoke would escape from inside the keep as riflemen shot would be attackers. On top of this, there were places called ishitoshi were rocks could be thrown from. Once we finished exploring the main keep, we exited out and followed the path back to the entrance. There was another interesting thing I saw around this area that I wanted to share. As you head back on your way to the exit you’ll come across this well.
There’s an interesting backstory where a women was apparently thrown into the well after having been framed for theft. This woman named Okiku had also sabotaged an assassination plot towards the lord of the castle. She also refused to be forced into a marriage with the would-be assassin after the lord fled and it was found out she helped keep him alive through her information. The would-be assassin named Danshiro annoyed by her rejection framed her for the theft of a plate that was part of the Himeji lord’s family treasure. It is said that her voice can be heard counting the number of plates from the well. People have thrown a lot of money into the well. Possibly to appease her spirit for being framed and killed in such a manner.
Once we left this area, I went to the western bailey part which is largely known as being the area where most of the women who served the castle lived in. Particularly, the lady called 千姫(Senhime) who lived in Himeji castle for 10 years. Her life was pretty troubled according to the information in this year, but it seemed like her 10 years of living in Himeji were the most bright. She was the daughter of the second Tokugawa shogun Hidetada. She was married to Toyotomi Hideyori, but upon his supposed death, she was then remarried to Honda Tadatoki who was the lord of Himeji during this time. Senhime built a shrine which is called Senhime Tenmangu to which she prayed for the prosperity of her new family everyday.
However, some sort of ill fortune had befallen her in which her relatives, husband, and son died in a short time span. Following Japanese custom for widows at the time, she became a Buddhist nun and moved to Edo(present day Tokyo) where she lived the rest of her days. There was also a re-enactment of I’m assuming her and someone else passing the time playing cards with 1:1 models. It was quite scary.
The rest of the exhibits aimed to tell visitors about the various lords who lived in Himeji and about the use of this particular section as living quarters for the ladies in waiting. I left around 6:00pm and people were still roaming the park. I am so glad I was able to go to both places and I hope you enjoyed reading my post about these Japanese historical landmarks.
Here’s my flickr account with the full set of pictures from those days.
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