The alarm bells should well and truly have been ringing at this point, but the fact that once we’d passed into the extensive grounds within the castle’s outer walls the presence of vast areas of blue tarps under the trees and musical entertainment in the background suggested that it mightn’t be too bad once we’d paid the admission fee and passed into the castle proper.
Himeji Castle, which dates back to 1609 (at least that’s when it was completed, fortifications on the site date back to the 14th century), is widely considered to be Japan’s most spectacular structure of its kind, which is largely because it has survived for some four hundred years without falling victim to fire, earthquake or enemy action.
James Bond fans might recognize it as the secret ninja training school and rocket weapons development centre from You Only Live Twice and Tom Cruise wandered through artificial snow and the castle grounds in The Last Samurai.
Once inside we followed the tour path through the West Bailey, past a long store house where rice and salt were stockpiled in case the castle was besieged and into the main donjon, noting that the population density seemed to be increasing gradually.
Once we’d started the ascent towards the upper levels of the main structure we found the reason.
While there was a steady stream of people being admitted to the grounds and embarking on the walk through the buildings, this was reduced to a single line once they attempted to reach the upper levels of the castle. Faced with an almighty squeeze and, more than likely, a lengthy wait, we bailed out of the tour as soon as the opportunity arose and headed for the relative tranquility of the extensive gardens next door.
Actually Himeji Koko-en was constructed as recently as 1992 to commemorate the centenary of Himeji municipality, and while they may have been there for less than twenty years, the nine separate gardens in the complex look like they’re much older. While the gardens might have been better viewed with autumn leaves, they were still quite spectacular and, while there were still plenty of people passing through, relatively uncrowded compared to the crush in the castle next door.