Kobe > Himeji > Kobe
Having swapped the suitcases for the convenience of a backpack the day before, there was no need, once we’d risen the next morning, to do anything about the luggage once we’d checked out of the Urban Hotel and prepared to head for Himeji.
The fact that we’d eaten well the night before also meant there was no immediate need for breakfast so it was a case of straight onto the train and off for further sakura-viewing.
We managed to find two seats opposite a Cub Scout troop on their way somewhere, prompting Hughesy to reflect that nine-year-old boys tend to be much the same the world over. Having finished work two-and-a-bit years ago, I don’t remember too much about Year Four school excursions, but the behaviours I was watching on the seats across the aisle looked uncannily familiar.
Once we’d reached Himeji the sight of crowds of people heading in the same direction down the avenue which takes you from the station to the castle should have warned us that things were about to become crowded.
It’s just that I didn’t realise just how many Japanese people would use the presence of cherry-blossoms on a sunny Saturday as an excuse for a day out.
Subsequent information suggests a figure somewhere in excess of seventy thousand.
We took a break from the crowd to grab a spot of breakfast at a convenient noodle outlet, resulting in Hughesy’s first successful attempt at using chopsticks, an achievement I was, for some reason, unable to repeat.
Suitably nourished, we felt sufficiently strengthened to join the queues forming at the entrance to the castle grounds.
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.
From the gardens we were forced to hurry to meet up with Minnie, one of Madam’s High School friends, who presented ‘Er Indoors with a piece of work that’s gracing the living room as I write. There wasn’t, however, too much time for them to stop and catch up on old times since we had to find our way back to the station, stop off at Myodani to pack the suitcase that had to carry our clothing requirements for the next (week-long) stage of the trip, return to downtown Kobe, check in, change and meet up with two more of Madam’s High School friends by six-thirty.
Which didn’t leave us a whole lot of time to catch our breath.
Once we’d alighted at Sannomiya it was a matter of moving as fast as possible, which meant that, once we’d checked in and changed, a brief subway journey was needed to make it to the rendezvous on time.
Although ‘Er Indoors had warned me that the couple we were meeting knew their way around Kobe’s better restaurants, I wasn’t quite expecting the high-class Chinese restaurant where I found myself sipping beer and wondering how we were going to work the ordering caper, since all available menu material seemed to be in Japanese.
In the long run we entrusted ourselves to the chefs’ discretion and were rewarded with a succession of tasting plates covering a range of tastes and textures, though I must admit that the jellyfish starter had a texture that I, for one, wouldn’t have expected.
Jellyfish, you may be surprised to learn, is, if not quite crunchy, much firmer in texture than I would have expected.
And comments about Hughesy’s liking for a splash of chilli produced one extra-hot dish featuring a dried Chinese chilli which, it was suggested, I might prefer to avoid sampling. The dish itself was wonderfully warm, and faced with the lone dried chilli that remained on the plate I abandoned any thought of discretion.
I certainly needed the two beers that were necessary to quell the flames but it was very tasty indeed. As previously indicated, Hughesy’s taste buds don’t do subtle all that well, but throw a bit of chilli their way...
And the witnesses seemed impressed.
Once the meal was over we faced a ten minute walk back to the hotel, so we bade farewell to our hosts for the night and headed back to recharge the batteries before the next day’s excursion to Kyoto.