Himeji Castle Japan

Legendary

A large, beautiful white castle complex resembling a bird taking flight.

Photo by Vladimir Mokry

In January 1995, an earthquake wrecked the city of Himeji. The castle on the hill came through almost untouched.

A bottle of sake had been left on an altar on the top floor of the keep. When people checked afterward, it was still standing exactly where someone had placed it.

The castle's luck goes back further than that. During World War II, American planes firebombed the city and burned most of it to the ground.

One firebomb landed on the top floor of the castle. It failed to explode.

The story begins in 1333, when a samurai named Akamatsu Norimura built a fort on Himeyama Hill. His son tore it down 13 years later and built a proper castle in its place.

The castle grew over the following centuries. A warlord named Toyotomi Hideyoshi added a three-story keep in 1581.

Then Ikeda Terumasa rebuilt the whole thing between 1601 and 1609. That version is essentially what stands today.

The complex holds 83 buildings in all, including towers, gates, corridors, and walls. Most are protected as important cultural treasures.

It's nicknamed the White Heron Castle because of its brilliant white plaster walls. From a distance, the layered roofs really do look like a bird spreading its wings.

The beauty hides something sharper. The paths up to the keep twist and double back deliberately, and the gates have hidden openings where defenders could drop rocks on attackers below.

Himeji became one of Japan's first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1993. It's the largest and most visited castle in the country.

Climb all the way up the wooden staircases inside the main keep, which get steeper as you go. Walk the winding approach path and notice how many times it turns back on itself. Visit in early April, when hundreds of cherry trees bloom across the grounds beneath the white walls.