18 March Himeji Castle and Hiroshima

On the 18th of March I sadly said goodbye to the lovely Hostel, and to the wonderful city of Kyoto. I gathered together all my luggage and set off for another few shinkansen trips to my next stop, Hiroshima. I decided that as I was going past Himeji (almost) that I should stop and see what is easily one of the most famous castles in Japan. Himeji turned out to be quite an interesting city, and I think I would go back and spend more than half a day there if I ever get the chance. The main tower of the castle was under repair, but creatively the scaffolding had a life sized image of what the tower looked like. The parts that I was able to explore were beautiful and the story of the castle is fascinating, particularly the love story of Princess Senhime who was born in 1597.

*The castle moat and high, sloping stone walls*

*The main tower covered by scaffolding*

*The front gate*

*One of the cats I shared my lunch with*

*View of the moat, looking towards the front gate*

 *An old map/illustration of the layout of Himeji castle, it was one of the best designs for defense (apparently)*

*Just in case you were thinking of scribbling*

*The beautiful corridors in Senhime's personal wing of the castle*

*The outside of the same corridor, Senhime's wing*

*Mannequins showing Senhime and her lady in waiting playing a card game. Not only did Senhime marry for love after her first husband killed himself while Osaka Castle burned, she also smoked and gambled, and really liked cats* 

*Proof that I was there and that it was freezing cold*

After eating my lunch in the castle grounds surrounded by cats, I went next door to a beautiful garden. It had various garden 'rooms' in different styles of Japanese gardening, with different 'moods'. It was so beautiful, and as usual I took hundreds of photos in an attempt to capture just a little of its beauty.

*Those Koi were HUGE, at least 50cm or more*

*My favourite flower in the whole garden, I wish I knew the name!*

On the way back to the station I spotted this oddity: A statue of a naked man playing the saxaphone...

When I finally arrived at my hotel in Hiroshima it was almost dark, the view was wonderful, as you can see below. I then set off to have the local specialty, Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki. In the restaurant I sat alone (as usual) but the lady who owned the restaurant sat another lone traveller beside me, and that is how I made a new friend, Yuichi.

*Yuichi and Me*

14 March Kyoto Imperial Palace

Before Tokyo was the capital city of Japan, the center of Japanese power was in Kyoto. The Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle were the two main articulations of this power, and both remain, virtually untouched by time, in the center of Kyoto. During World War 2 when many Japanese cities and cultural sites were destroyed Kyoto was spared, and for me, the untouched nature of the city is a large part of its appeal.

On the 14th I hired a bike from the hostel and set off along the river. It was a beautiful day and the river was looking very beautiful. I found the Imperial Palace without much difficulty and booked myself in for the next group tour, as this is the only way you can access the inner areas of the Palace grounds. While I waited for the tour to start I ate lunch at Mos Burger, and then explored the beautiful outer gardens of the Palace.

*The Emperor's Gate, no one else was allowed to enter this way, not even the Empress*

*It doesn't show up well, but that was real gold, sparkling in the sunshine*

After the tour I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at Nijo Castle, as the plum blossom was flowering there, and I had heard there were beautiful paintings inside. It did not disappoint, and I think I enjoyed it even more than the Palace, as you were allowed to walking inside the castle, and there were many girls in Kimono who were walking in the gardens, making me feel as though I had been transported back in time. Unfortunately I was not allowed to take photos inside, but you can see some photos here: http://www.rohm.com/rohm-saijiki/nijoujou/4_coseup/closeup_01.html

*The front gate*

*The amazing carvings inside the gate*