The West Enclosure is located on Sagiyama mountain, the southwest of the Main Towers. It was lastly improved by Tadamasa Honda, when he was married to Senhime, the daughter of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The enclosure has large space and the Roofed Passage Turret where you can enter. You can also see equipment for battles such as machicolations as well as rooms for women who might have served Senhime. The view of the Main Towers from this enclosure looks very elegant.
The map around the castle
The Roofed Passage Turret on the West EnclosureThe Main Tower can be seen from the West Enclosure
My Impression
I think Himeji Castle looks much better with surrounded by natural terrain. For example, the Main Tower buildings are beautiful by themselves, but the buildings could be more beautiful with the mountain and the natural materials from which the towers were originally built.
The picture of only the Main Tower buildingA beautiful scenery of the combination of the Main Tower and nature materials
In addition, when I visited the castle in 2013, I had a unique experience. The castle was undergoing repairs under The Heisei Great Repairs. The Large Main Tower was hidden behind construction covering. However, visitors could enter the construction site to see the tower close-up. I saw the roof top of the tower being painted with thick plaster among the roof tiles. The thickness of the plaster at the castle is 3cm, which is thicker than the past. This is to protect against the harsh weather. Even now, castles are trying to survive into the future.
The construction covering of the Heisei Great RepairsThe roof top of the tower that can be seen close-up
How to get There
If you want to visit by car: It takes about 15 minutes from the Hanada IC or Tohori Ramp on the Bantan renraku Road. The are several parking lots around the castle. From Himeji Station: Take the Himeji Castle Loop Bus from the Himeji-ekimae stop in front of the north exit of the station and get off at the Himeji-jo Otemon-mae stop. Or it takes about 20 minutes on foot from the station.
Every time you go the castle, you will have a new perspective.
Features (The Large Main Tower)
The Large Main Tower has five layers, but its inside has six levels with a basement. The tower was built using the lookout tower style. This type of tower usually has a small look-out tower on a large-scale turret with hip-and-gable roofs. But Himeji’s tower looks smart and doesn’t have a veranda at the top floor that other look-out towers usually have. The tower is categorized as the late lookout tower type that would evolve into the multi-storied type later.
The Large Main Tower of Himeji Castle (the late lookout tower type)The Main Tower of Inuyama Castle (the lookout tower style)The Main Tower of Fukuyama Castle (the multi-storied type)
Its roofs are decorated with many Chinese style gables and triangular shaped gables. White plaster is painted thickly over its walls as well as the gaps among the roof tiles to protect against fire, that makes it looks like a white heron. On the other hand, it is also equipped with lots of machicolations and loopholes for battles. You can enter into the tower, but please note that you may have to stand in a line over an hour because the tower is very popular. In addition, only a limited number of visitors are allowed inside at a time. Unlike its gorgeous appearance, its inside is built very practically. The tower was actually built as a place just for battle.
The beautiful decorations of the Main TowerThe interior of the Main Tower (licensed by alisdair via Wikimedia Commons)
The inside has kitchens, toilets and warehouses to accommodate many soldiers for a long siege. You can also see how soldiers could use machicolations and loopholes inside. The Large Main Tower is mainly supported by two large pillars (the East and West). The West Large Pillar had actually been spoiled, so it was replaced with new one when The Showa Great Repairs were done in 1959. The foot of the East Large Pillar was also fixed then. You can now see these large pillars clearly above the third floor.
A kitchen in the Main Tower (licensed by Corpse Reviver via Wikimedia Commons)The West Large Pillar (taken by あけび from photoAC)
Features (Sides and Back of Castle)
The map around the castle
Himeji Castle has a lot of perspectives even in the sides and back. Let me introduce some of them. First, on the front foot of Himeyama mountain, you can see terraced stone walls which are piled with natural stones, a primitive method called “Nozura-zumi”. They are said to be built by Hideyoshi Hashiba or Kanbe Kuroda. They also surround Kamiyamazato Enclosure which is one of the oldest enclosures in the castle.
The old stone walls surrounding Kamiyamazato Enclosure
Moving to the right side of the castle, you can see the edge of the moat which is separated from the Inner Moat. There was the warehouse for freight called Uchisenba-gura nearby. This meant that the moat was used as a port.
The Inner Moat used as a port
The stone walls on the eastern side of Ido Enclosure are among the highest stone walls in the castle. In addition, the right side of the Large Main Tower is outstanding where you can see the great hip-and-gable roof on the second layer. The combination of them is perfect for a picture.
The high stone walls under Ido EnclosureThe right side of the Main TowerThe combination of the Main Tower and the high stone walls
On the back side of the castle, you can see another edge of the moat. In fact, the edge is the starting point of all the swirling moats in the castle. The back of Himeyama mountain still remains natural, so its appearance with the Main Towers has a unique perspective. The area around has the doubled Inner Moats as the second turn of the moats starts there and they offered strong protection to the back of the castle.
The start point of the moatThe Main Tower on the back of the mountainThe second turn of the moat
松本城、特にその天守は現在の長野県松本市において際立った存在です。しかし、現在までの道のりは平坦ではありませんでした。１６世紀に小笠原氏が最初にこの地に城を築き、しばらくして松本城と名付けました。１５９０年、石川氏がここに移され、城の拡張に手をつけ、そして天守を建てました。何度か改築の後、松平氏によって１６３３年に現在と同じ姿に至りました。 The Matsumoto castle, particularly its keep “Tenshu” is outstanding now in Matsumoto city, Nagano prefecture. But the road to present has not been smooth. In the 16th century, the Ogasawara clan first built the castle in this area. After a while, they named it Matsumoto castle. In 1590, the Ishikawa clan were transferred to the area and started to spread the castle and they also built the Tenshu. It was modified several times and reached the same appearance as now in 1633 by the Matsudaira clan.
松本城航空写真（The aerial photo of Matsumoto Castle）
Features
城の歴史は長いですが、城のシンボルはとにかく天守に尽きます。天守は「大天守」「乾小天守」２つの櫓「辰巳附櫓」「月見櫓」から成っていて、互いにつながっている構造です。大天守は、東日本で唯一の現存５層天守であり、黒く輝いている姿を見ることができるのは、下見板（板壁）に毎年特別な漆が塗られているからなのです。 In spite of its long history, the symbol of the castle is just the Tenshu. It consists of the large keep “Dai-Tenshu”, the Inui small keep “Sho-Tenshu”, and two turrets (Tatsumi-Tsuke Yagura and Tsukimi Yagura) which are connected to each other. Daitenshu is the only one remaining and its five-story castle keep in the east Japan. It has a brilliant black colored look coming from wooden side walls painted with special Japanese lacquer, annually.
天守西面、左から乾小天守、大天守（The west side of Tenshu. Inui Sho-Tenshu, Dai-Tenshu from the left）天守南面、左から大天守、辰巳附櫓、月見櫓（The south side of Tenshu. Dai-Tenshu, Tatsumi-Tsuke-Yagura, Tsukimi-Yagura from the left）
松本城は、同じく５層の大天守を持つ姫路城とよく比較されるのですが、姫路城の方は西日本にあって白亜に塗られており、とても対照的です。松本城の天守はまた、国宝に指定されている現存５天守の１つとなっています（他は、姫路、彦根、犬山、松江）。 It is often compared with the Himegi castle’s equally five-story Dai-Tenshu painted in white clearly in the west Japan by contrast. Matsumoto castle’s Tenshu is also designated as one of the 5 remaining keeps of Japan’s national treasures (the others are Himeji, Hikone, Inuyama and Matsue).
「白い」姫路城天守（The “white” Himeji castle keep）
そもそも城の装備、例えば石落としや狭間などは正に戦いのために作られているのですが、それに加えてよくデザインされ、各層の屋根ともよくマッチしています。 Basically its devices such as machicolations and loopholes were built just for battles, they were also well designed and match each story’s roof.
松本城の石落とし（One of Matsumoto castle’s machicolations）takeen by あけび from photo AC
この城の美しく調和が取れた姿は、歴史ファンだけでなく、写真家、芸術家、一般の観光客を魅了しています。一例として、日本アルプスを背景にした松本城は、ともよい写真の主題になると思います。 Its beautiful total balance of the castle has been attracting not only history fans but also photographers, artists and everyday visitors. For example, Matsumoto castle with the background of the Japan Alps could be a very good photo subject.
日本アルプスを背景にした松本城（Matsumoto Castle with the background of the Japan Alps）
天守の中に入ることもできます。実は内部は６階建てです。ほとんど木材によりながら、こんなにも頑丈に作られていることに驚かれることでしょう。但し、内部はどちらかといえば暗く狭く、階段は急です。ですので動きやすい服装で登閣されることをおすすめします。 You can also get in the inside of the Tenshu which in fact consists of 6 floors. You may be surprised to see how strong it is built by using mainly wooden materials. But the inside is relatively dark and narrow, and stairways are steep. So it is recommended to wear comfortable clothes.
松本城天守の内部（A view of the inside of Matsumoto castle’s Tenshu）taken by あけび from photo AC
Later Life
その後の松本城はとてもシビアでした。まず江戸時代、本丸御殿が焼け落ちたとき、松本藩の藩士たちは必死に働き、天守に火が及ぶのを防ぎました。明治維新の後、他の建物が皆撤去されていき、ついには天守も売られてしまい、廃材として解体されるところでした。ここで社会運動家の市川量造が登場し、買主に待ってもらうよう頼み、その間に資金を集め、ついには買い戻しに成功しました。 The later life of Matsumoto castle was very severe. In the Edo period, when the Honmaru main hall was burned down, warriors of the feudal domain of Matsumoto worked their hardest to prevent Tenshu from burning. After the Meiji restoration, all of the other buildings were removed, and finally Tenshu was sold to possibly be for waste material. Ryozo Ichikawa, a social campaigner came out, then asked the buyer to suspend, after that he collected money to get it back, and was successful in the end.
明治時代の天守写真、松本城管理事務所蔵（The picture of Tenshu in the Meiji Era, owned by Matsumoto Castle Management Bureau）licensed under public domain via Wikimedia Commons
しかしながら、それだけでは不十分でした。このような大きく古い建物の維持には、継続的なメンテナンスが必要なのです。明治中期には、天守は柱の腐りから６度傾いてしまい、中にはコウモリが住む有様でした。ここでもう一人の救世主、学校の校長であった小林有也が登場し、城の修復に尽力しました。そしてついには松本城は国宝に指定されたのです。更には最近では、天守の周りに過去にあった門、黒門そして太鼓門が再建されています。 However, that was not enough for the castle. Such a large and old building is needed to do continuous maintenance to keep. In the middle Meiji era, Tenshu got to lean at about six degrees due to central pillars decayed, and bats lived in it. Another savior, school head Unari Kobayashi worked hard to repair the castle. At last the castle was designated as a national treasure. In addition, other traditional gates around Tenshu such as Kuromon and Taikomon has been rebuilt these days.
太鼓門（The Taikomon）
My Impression
もし天守に入りたいのであれば、十分な時間を確保していただいた方がよいと思います。恐らく天守に入る人たちの列に並ばなければならず、１時間近くは待つことになるでしょう。ここ数年有名どころの城巡りがブームになっているからです。 I would like to say that you would better have enough time to spend if you want to get in Tenshu, as there might be a long line. It may take nearly 1 hour in line because visiting famous castles has become more popular over the last few years.
天守南西面（The southwest side of the Tenshu）
そして、もう一つお願いとしては、この城を守ることに尽力した２人の功労者に敬意を表していただきたいのです。黒門の内側に、２人の顕彰碑があるので是非ご覧ください。 And my another suggestion is to show respect to two saviors who kept the castle intact, by looking at the plaque of them that is placed inside the gate of Kuromon.
黒門（The Kuromon) taken by あけび from photo AC
How to get There
松本駅またはバスターミナルから歩いて約１５分。車の場合は、城の周辺にいくつか駐車場があります。 東京から：北陸新幹線で長野駅まで行き、篠ノ井線の普通列車に乗り換えてください（電車の場合）。または新宿バスターミナルから直行高速バスに乗ってください（バスの場合）。 It takes about 15 minutes on foot from the Matsumoto train station or bus terminal. When using a car, there are few parking lots around the castle. From Tokyo: Go to Nagano on Hokuriku shinkansen super express, transfer local train on Shinonoi line (train). Or take a direct highway bus at the Shinjuku bus terminal (bus)
