Visiting the White Heron

I had the opportunity to visit Himeji Castle a few weeks ago with a Japanese friend. This place is a gold mine of traditional Japanese culture. The castle, built of wood and white plaster, remained undamaged in World War II and is considered a national treasure of Japan.



When we entered the castle, we had to remove our shoes and carry them around in a bag. The floors were polished and really smooth, and it was a little scary to walk up and down several flights of stairs in socks.



Chojugiga Jinbutsu Zoshi (top left) is an ancient form of Japanese storytelling that predates manga, but tells a story using a continual flow of pictures. The other photos show some of the armor and weaponry displayed in the castle, and the shrine is located on the very top floor.



The area outside the castle is surrounded by beautiful gardens, restaurants, and tea houses. It reminded me a little of a meditation path I walked at a church retreat back home. After we'd been through the castle, we took a walk through the gardens and stopped to rest at a bench surrounded by a bamboo thicket.

"Gardens of the Edo period...were constructed to represent specific sites in other parts of Japan, so that lords and their families who were forced to spend long periods there could be reminded of their homeland."

"A theme which runs through this brief historical survey of Japanese gardens is the way they are designed to represent something else." --Joy Hendry, Gardens and Visual Culture