A Tale of Two Castles

In Japan, Pinky and I saw two of Kansai's best-known castles. The were both quite different from one another.

Osaka Castle 大阪城

It was cold, and as we brushed past dark-suited businessmen at Osaka-jo-koen Park, our breath formed in misty puffs in front of our faces. Then, as we turned around to look across a riverbank lined with sakura (cherry blossoms), we saw it... Osaka Castle! 

We had gotten to Osaka Castle before they opened at 9 am in order to get tickets, and I'm glad we did! The eight-story fortress was full of amazing artifacts from the samurai times, including armor, swords, and incredible artwork. For me though, what I liked the most was just looking at the castle from the outside, and imagining how difficult it would have been for an attacking army to try to scale its steep stone walls.

  

We enjoyed an ice cream cone at the castle as we admired not only the great fortress, but the beautifully blooming sakura and the castle gardens as well.

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Himeji Castle 姫路城

Even though we woke up early, we had a slow start. By the time we finally got off our 45-minute Shinkansen ride in Himeji, Japan, the sun was already high in the bright blue sky. We finally arrived in Himeji just before 11 am.

The castle was easy to find; just five or so minutes walk from the station and standing in brilliant white atop a sakura-covered hill.

But how could you miss it? Himeji is Japan's most famous castle.

Himeji, known colloquially as the "White Heron Castle" due to its brilliant snowy coloring, was only recently restored to its former glory. Since we had arrived late, the grounds were already packed. A sign told us the queue to the ticket counter would be two hours. We had other plans for an afternoon in Kyoto, so that long wait would have been out of the question.

Disappointed, we resigned ourselves to exploring the grounds, where a large number of people were enjoying a traditional Japanese music concert, and local food and snacks, while enjoying the beautiful cherry blossoms.

Just as we were about to leave to head back to the station, something caught my eye, something that I had searched for in Japan last year but had never found...

Sake boxes! Traditionally, sake is served in a small, lacquered box. Drinking sake out of a box was one of the challenges that Ryan and I had set for ourselves last year, but couldn't find anywhere we went. Yet, here it was! Stacks of sake boxes sitting right in front of me at Himeji Castle!

Of course, I had to try it!

The local sake was served out of a big padded barrel by a Himeji brewer. We took our box and queued up behind a barrel. The worker then used a long bamboo ladle to fill our boxes up with his sake. They made sure the boxes always overflowed onto your hands. This is a symbol that the brewers aren't cheating you by giving you less than a full portion!

So the trip to Himeji, though we couldn't go up into the castle, was not a waste of time, by any means!