Hello Everyone!

After a few days in Osaka I jumped on the Shinkansen and made a quick stop at Himeji Castle, which might be the single most “yep… that would have been impossible to attack” castle I’ve ever seen.

First off, the thing looks exactly like what you imagine when someone says feudal Japanese castle. White walls, layered rooftops, towering above the city like it’s still expecting an army to show up any minute. The nickname is “The White Heron Castle” because the bright white plaster and sweeping rooflines supposedly resemble a bird taking flight. Personally I think it looks less like a bird and more like a very elegant warning that you are about to have a terrible day if you attack it.

And historically… attackers absolutely did.

Himeji was built up starting in the 1300s and later massively expanded by samurai warlord Ikeda Terumasa around 1609. What makes it fascinating is that it’s not just a castle — it’s basically a giant medieval puzzle designed to kill invaders.

The path to the main keep winds through a maze of narrow corridors and gates that twist and double back on themselves. An attacking army would think they were getting closer… but they were actually being funneled into tighter and tighter choke points. Meanwhile defenders above could rain down arrows, rocks, or whatever unpleasant liquids feudal Japan had boiling that day.

One of the coolest details: the castle walls are filled with different shaped openings called sama. Some are triangular, some rectangular, some circular. They weren’t decorative — they were firing ports for arrows and early firearms. So depending on what weapon you had, there was a perfectly shaped hole waiting for you.

Basically the whole place was engineered so that if you were attacking it, every step forward just meant more angles where people could shoot you.

10/10 would not invade.

What’s wild is that the castle survived everything. Feudal wars, the fall of the samurai era, World War II bombing of Himeji, and even a massive earthquake. At one point after the war the entire castle was sold at auction for the equivalent of about $23 because the government thought maintaining it would be too expensive. Luckily the buyer realized demolishing it would cost more than it was worth, so… he just didn’t.

Great financial decision.

My back, which had been slowly improving, decided this was also the day to remind me it still existed. Things were going well until I made the mistake of sneezing. My entire chest seized up like someone had unplugged my torso for a few minutes. Not ideal. After standing there looking like a confused statue for a bit though, things loosened up and I was mostly good to go again.

Inside the castle I had one major concern: would I even fit?

Japan is not known for building things with 6’4” backpackers in mind. But surprisingly the interior ceilings were tall enough that I didn’t spend the whole visit folded in half. I was impressed. Walking up the wooden floors through layer after layer of defenses, I could easily imagine whoever ruled here retreating higher and higher into the fortress while attackers below slowly realized they had signed up for a very bad afternoon.

A couple things that didn’t really make it into the video:

First, the castle is ridiculously close to the Shinkansen station. Like… a few blocks walk. You step off one of the fastest trains on earth and ten minutes later you’re standing in front of a 400-year-old samurai fortress. Japan is weirdly good at blending past and future like that.

Second, I learned a great little travel trick. The station has a massive wall of coin lockers, clearly designed for exactly what I was doing. A lot of travelers split their journey here — Osaka → Himeji → Hiroshima — stash their big backpack in a locker, go explore the castle for a couple hours, then grab their bag and hop on the next train.

Brilliant system. My spine approved.

One downside though: Shinkansen trains might actually be too fast.

On shorter hops like Osaka to Himeji you barely have time to sit down before you’re already preparing to get off again. I was constantly worried I’d miss my tiny two-minute disembark window and accidentally end up halfway across Japan. So relaxing, napping, or zoning out wasn’t really happening.

First world problems: “My bullet train is inconveniently efficient.”

Anyway, castle conquered (peacefully), backpack retrieved, spine mostly operational…

Onward to Hiroshima.