| Exterior
of Himeji Castle |
| The Grey Heron at
the bottom of this picture thinks that Himeji Castle, "The White Egret",
is just fine, and so do I! |
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| Both of these photos
were taken from just outside the middle moat. |
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| I'm not sure if
this was part of the inner moat, but if you look carefully you'll see lots
of holes in the whitewashed walls above the pond. These holes,
which are shown in more detail on the castle details page, were used for
firing guns and arrows at attackers. |
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| Although it appears
to have five stories, the main tower actually has six stories and a basement. |
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Notice the "fish"
decorations on the top of the roof, which also appear on some of the corners
of the lower roofs (you can see them close up on the castle details page).
I'm not sure whether
they represent fish or dolphins, but they're quite common in historic Japanese
buildings. |
| As you see, there
are smaller towers (or "donjons"), one of which is undergoing restoration.
All the donjons have
openings in the walls which would be used for pouring boiling water or
oil onto any attackers who got close enough to scale the walls. |
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