Himeji

Himeji Castle

view from the "special event"

field trip!!

tea houseMuseum of Literature

Yesterday we were in Himeji. There we saw the Himeji castle. It is this huge timber framed structure built around 1300. After climbing down the 7 stories, there was a sign for "special event" by a narrow staircase going up into another section of the castle. A few of us went up and ended up being an area where you could have different views of the castle and grounds. Unfortunatley, they kept funneling people up this narrow staircase and not letting people down. By the time they reversed the flow of traffic, there were about fifty people in this 10'x10' landing. I was not happy and was starting to stress. Not the special event that I was hoping for!! haha. Afterwards, we went to see the tea gardens next to the castle. So beautiful! They were built recently to commemorate an anniversary of the castle. The tea house was gorgeous. We went back in the afternoon to do the tea ceremony, but it was closed :(. Then we went down the street to see yet another Tadao Ando building. The Museum of Literatre. Not his best work, but it was still nice to see.