Glorious Castle and beautiful Traditions..my day at Himeji

Hey all

So im tired as all heck and all I want to do is go to bed...but I will force myself to write this tonight...seeing as today might have been the single best day of my time in Japan to date.

So we went to Himeji.  What's so special about Himeji you ask.  Well first of all we got to take a nice long train ride (little more than an hour) which allowed us to get a taste of more of Japan rather than just Kobe.  Literally there was a section of land that became vast rice patties and small rivers and canals.  It was interesting to see the rice patties in the backyards of a few houses (in suburban areas).  All the while the mountains loomed over all of the small houses and apartments on one side and on the other the ocean's cool breeze wafted in thru the open windows.  It was really pretty.

Anyways...so Himeji.  When we arrived we could immediately see the castle that towered above the entire city.  The Himeji castle is known as an impregnable fortress seeing as through out history the castle had never fallen into enemy hands.  Thus much of the original structure is still intact, with multiple reconstruction and preservation projects, Himeji castle was an extremely beautiful sight to see. The design of the castle was amazing which included a wide and heavy door at the main gate and steep stone walls surroundig the castle.  the walls forced enemy troops into a series of winding allyways and narrow passageways allowing defending archers and gunmen to easily stop the intruders.  The walls all had small holes so that bows and firearms could take down advancing forces.

We were also able to walk through one of the main sleeping quarters of the soldiers.  It was a long and winding building that had small rooms along the right side.  The other wall had many latched doors along the windows called "Stone throwing windows" which also explains their prupose :)

Unfortunately due to a current reconstruction project we were unable to see the inside of the actual castle...but nevertheless Himeji Castle was absoultely beautiful and the pictures don't do what the real castle can convey.

Afterwards we all headed toward Himeji's annual Yukata Festival!  This was amaaazing!  Hundreds of food vendors, game tents, and shopping tents were lined up all over the city!  It was crazy!  I tried some skewers and pastry things...and a DELICIOUS chocolate and custard banana crepe.

I also tried my hand at the traditional Japanese goldfish game. haha.  I had always seen it in animes so i just HAD to try it!  The premise for those of you who are unfamiliar, is to catch as many goldfish as you can using a small paper net.  ITS DIFFICULT!  Chris tried....immediately broke the paper part of the net.  Later chris and I watched a grandmother teach her grand daughter the technique....she was amazing!  Caught several large goldfish with all the skill and ease of a professional!  When I tried it...I caught 1. hahaha....yeaaaaaa it was a lot of fun though!!

Ok...I must sleep.  But i'll just let the pictures show you how wonderful this festival is.  All the yukatas and traditional Japanese culture one could ever hope for.  Yukatas were beauutiful!!!!!!!!!!







Food of the day....

Japanese Crepe!

These giant sweet and goodie filled dough wraps are fruity and creamy and wonderful.  The combination of fruit and custard is to die for!!!

And that's all!! good night!