JapanPlaces & destinations

Himeji Castle

The only major Japanese castle never destroyed: no siege, no fire, no bombing.

On the mapHyōgo

Completed in its present form in 1609 by Ikeda Terumasa, Himeji lines up eighty-three timber buildings coated in white plaster, earning it the name "white heron". Its defence is geometric: the paths spiral upward, narrow, double back and expose the attacker to loopholes for the whole climb. The keep was never used in battle. In 1945 an incendiary bomb landed on the top floor without exploding. It became Japan’s first World Heritage site in 1993.