Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle (姫路城, Himeji-jō; [çime̞(d)ʑiꜜ(d)ʑo̞ː] ) is a hilltop Japanese castle complex situated in Himeji, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network of 83 structures with advanced defensive systems from the feudal period. The castle is frequently known as Hakuro-jō or Shirasagi-jō ("White Egret Castle" or "White Heron Castle") because of its brilliant white exterior and supposed resemblance to a bird taking flight.

As with almost all Japanese castles from the Azuchi-Momoyama period onward, the tenshu (天守, main keep), the most prominent structure, was used as a storehouse in times of peace and as a fortified tower in times of war, and the daimyo (大名, feudal lord)'s government offices and residences were located in a group of single-story buildings near the tenshu and the surrounding yagura (櫓, turrets).

Himeji Castle dates to 1333 when Akamatsu Norimura built a fort on top of Himeyama hill. The fort was dismantled and rebuilt as Himeyama Castle in 1346 and then remodeled into Himeji Castle two centuries later. Himeji Castle was then significantly remodeled in 1581 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who added a three-story castle keep. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu awarded the castle to Ikeda Terumasa for his help in the Battle of Sekigahara, and Ikeda completely rebuilt the castle from 1601 to 1609, expanding it into a large castle complex. Several buildings were later added to the castle complex by Honda Tadamasa from 1617 to 1618. For almost 700 years, Himeji Castle has remained intact, withstanding incidents such as the bombing of Himeji in World War II, and natural disasters, including the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake.

Text adapted from “Himeji Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Himeji Castle ranks #29 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #1 of the 297 mapped in Japan. Founded 1346, it is older than 60% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 582 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 45,625 times in the last 60 days, more than 99% of the atlas. Wikidata records about 1,530,000 visitors in 2024. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Himeji, 3 km away. It is one of the 71 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Kansai. See how Japan compares in the castle statistics.

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