About this location: Himeji Castle
Himeji Castle, completed 1609, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and National Treasure. Its white-plastered walls resemble a white heron in flight, earning the nickname 'White Heron Castle'. The largest surviving wooden castle in Japan was stunningly restored to pristine white between 2009 and 2015.
Key features
- Great Keep — Ikeda Terumasa's major reconstruction (1601–1609), the connected five-story-six-floor-plus-basement keep, the largest of Japan's 12 surviving originals
- Sannomaru Plaza and cherry blossoms — at peak bloom in early April, about 1,000 Yoshino cherry trees frame the white keep in the canonical composition
- Nishi-no-Maru Garden — where Princess Sen (wife of Toyotomi Hideyori) lived; the Keshou Yagura turret with autumn colors and the keep's side profile
- Shirotopia Memorial Park — northeast of the castle, a less-crowded vantage with cherry blossoms and the keep from above
- Otoko-yama Park — a hilltop northwest of the castle offering a hidden frontal aerial view of Himeji Castle
