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!

grey heron looking at Himeji Castle (click here to open a new window with this photo in computer wallpaper format)

Both of these photos were taken from just outside the middle moat.

Himeji castle from outside the inner moat

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.

Although it appears to have five stories, the main tower actually has six stories and a basement.

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.

Himeji castle from below (click here to open a new window with this photo in computer wallpaper format)

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.