Page 123 - WDT Winter 2018 japan

Nonetheless, the meal was quite good – hearty and the grounds. This was a defense stratagem intended to trick
filled with meat and vegetables. would-be invaders into believing that they were advancing
We left the restaurant and continued up the arcade, on the keep, only to be led into an ambush.
a colorful mall offering a wide variety of local goods, and Himeji features several other defense systems that
proceeded to the castle. When we emerged, the rain was still were new at the time. The keep is enclosed within three
falling hard, but we could see the castle on a bluff, glowing in moats and has walls within walls, almost all of which feature
white finery above the disconsolate gray day. narrow portholes for archers and gunmen to shoot at invad-
Imagine an enormous fortress built entirely of wood ing warriors. Firearms had recently made their appearance in
and stone. That is feudal warfare, so the castle is built
the stuff that ancient on a massive stone foundation, to
Japanese castles are put its samurai out of range of the
made of. guns. And castle walls include drop
The castle is the chutes for samurai to dump rocks
color of new snow or boiling oil on any soldier trying to
and six stories high, breach the walls.
resulting in a series All these precautions and
of graduated, flow- Himeji never saw battle. Until the
ing roof lines. To the World War II bombing raid, that
Japanese, this visage is. For hundreds of years it led a
suggests a bird in charmed life among Japan’s castles,
flight, so it has acquired the moniker “White Heron Castle.” surviving earthquakes, fires, and political intrigue.
The castle is familiar to Westerners through several film and Unlike some other Japanese castles, such as Osaka,
television productions, including the 1980 series “Shogun,” Himeji Castle was restored to keep the structure as authentic
which starred Richard Chamberlain. as possible, and curators do everything they can to preserve
The grounds are expansive, and on our arrival, we were it. When we entered from the driving rain, attendants issued
introduced to one of the fortress’ tricks. When completed in us plastic bags to cover our shoes and gear, so we wouldn’t
1609, Himeji embodied the latest in state-of-the-art castle drip all over the polished wooden floors and spoil the resto-
technology, including labyrinthine pathways that appear to ration. This made for some comical moments on the narrow
lead to the main tower, but misdirect you to another part of stairways, but it was worth it.

WINEDINEANDTRAVEL.COM 123