Himeji Castle

Overview

Himeji Castle (姫路城, Himeji-jō) is a hilltop castle complex in the city of Himeji, in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It is widely regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, a network of 83 structures built with the defensive systems of the feudal period. Construction of the castle as it largely stands today began in 1609, at the end of the Keichō era (慶長, Keichō, year 14 of the era), during the Edo period (1603–1868).

The castle is often called Hakuro-jō or Shirasagi-jō — "White Egret Castle" or "White Heron Castle" — because of its brilliant white exterior and its supposed resemblance to a bird taking flight. It is the largest and most visited castle in Japan, and in 1993 it was registered as one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country. Along with Matsumoto Castle and Kumamoto Castle, it is counted among Japan's three premier castles, and it appears on the 100 Fine Castles of Japan list and among Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots.

History

The site's history begins in 1333, when Akamatsu Norimura built a fort on top of Himeyama hill. That fort was dismantled and rebuilt as Himeyama Castle in 1346, and two centuries later it was remodelled into Himeji Castle. In 1581 Toyotomi Hideyoshi significantly remodelled the castle, adding a three-story keep.

The decisive turning point came in 1600, when Tokugawa Ieyasu awarded the castle to Ikeda Terumasa for his help in the Battle of Sekigahara. Ikeda completely rebuilt the castle between 1601 and 1609, expanding it into a large complex. Ikeda Terumasa is recorded as having died at the castle. Several buildings were added later by Honda Tadamasa between 1617 and 1618.

For almost 700 years Himeji Castle has remained intact. It withstood the bombing of Himeji in World War II and natural disasters including the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake. The castle also has a connection to Kuroda Nagamasa, who is recorded as having been born at the site.

What Stands There Today

The complex stands in Himeji Park, in the Shikitō district of Himeji. Its most prominent structure is the tenshu (天守, main keep), which served as a storehouse in times of peace and as a fortified tower in times of war. As with almost all Japanese castles from the Azuchi-Momoyama period onward, the daimyo (大名, feudal lord) governed from a group of single-story buildings near the tenshu and the surrounding yagura (櫓, turrets).

The castle's named structures include the Main Keep, the East Small Keep, the West Small Keep and the Northwest Small Keep, along with a series of watariyagura (渡櫓, connecting corridors): the Ro Watariyagura, Ha Watariyagura, I Watariyagura and Ni Watariyagura. The Kōko-en garden is also part of the complex. The area within the middle moat is a designated Special Historic Site, and five structures of the castle are designated National Treasures.

The castle buildings underwent restoration work for several years and reopened to the public on March 27, 2015. The works removed decades of dirt and grime, restoring the formerly grey roof to its original brilliant white colour.

The Name in Japanese

The castle's name in Japanese is 姫路城. Its reading in kana is ひめじじょう, and its romaji is Himeji-jō. The name breaks down into three kanji:

• 姫 — read here as hime. It means "princess". This is the first element of the place name Himeji.
• 路 — read here as ji. It means "road" or "path". Together, 姫路 (Himeji) is the name of the city where the castle stands.
• 城 — read here as jō. It means "castle". This is the standard kanji for a Japanese castle, and it appears in the names of castles across the country.

The reading ji for 路 is a voicing of the character's more common reading ro; this kind of sound change, where an unvoiced consonant becomes voiced in the middle of a compound, is common in Japanese place names. The long vowel in jō is written in kana as じょう and in romaji with a macron, so the full name is Himeji-jō.

Because 城 is so productive in castle names, learners will meet it constantly: 松本城 (Matsumoto-jō), 熊本城 (Kumamoto-jō) and many others follow the same pattern. Recognising 城 on sight, and knowing that it is read jō in this position, is one of the quickest gains for anyone reading Japanese historical texts or maps.

Visiting and Context

Himeji Castle sits within Himeji Park in the Shikitō district of Himeji. The castle was the headquarters location of Himeji Domain, the feudal administrative unit centred on the site. Its association with the Ikeda, Honda and Kuroda families places it firmly in the political world of the early Edo period, when the Tokugawa shogunate distributed castles and territories to loyal lords after the Battle of Sekigahara.

For visitors, the complex offers both the military architecture of the tenshu and yagura and the garden setting of Kōko-en. The castle's survival across almost 700 years — through war, earthquake and the 2015 restoration — makes it an unusually complete record of Japanese castle building, and the reason it is treated as the country's foremost surviving example of the form.