EPT========================================
Himeji was the last stop during my three-day trip around South-Western honshu and shikoku. Takayama blog can be found here, and Okayama blog can be found here.
Himeji is a rather large city in Japan (still much much smaller than the giant conglomerations such as Tokyo and Osaka). Himeji is only famous for a few things, and one of them being its castle, named after the city, Himeji Castle.
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Himeji-jo was constructed in the 1300's, and demolished and rebuilt in the 1500's (iirc...). The city was bombed a few times during the second world war, but the castle stayed largely intact. Himeji-jo is perhaps one of the most famous castles in Japan and one of Japan's many world heritage sites.
Himeji-jo, through the glass of a restaurant.
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We arrived at Himeji around noon, so naturally, we need to get some food:
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Castle from afar.
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Cornerstones, they had some significance, but I just can't remember anymore
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A closer look:
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The city below:
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Castle gargoyle -- an imaginary tiger-headed fish, called kinshachi (金鯱). A talisman for fire prevention.
![[image loading]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3368/3587658853_5c3b166604.jpg?v=0)
The castle is known for its winding roads (serves the purpose of a maze to confuse intruders) leading up to and away from the castle. As a result, the tour took around four hours. By the end, we were exhausted and in dire need of some good food. Luckily, Himeji is also famous for O-den -- おでん.
O-den is prepared differently across Japan. In Himeji, it is also referred to as Kanto-ni (関東煮). What makes them different is the soy sauce they use for dipping.
O-makase (basically a combination plate, literally "up-to-you")
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Ordered some more...
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At 2-5$ per skewer, that's a lot of money...
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After obtaining some knowledge with respect to O-den, we marched onto store number two:
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Sure beat the o-dens I had at 7-11's in Tokyo!
To come:
Osaka
Ama-no-hashi-datte
Okinawa
Hong Kong
South Korea
...
