The most famous attraction in Himeji is the castle. Originally built in 1333, it’s a World Heritage Site and the largest and most visited castle in Japan. It was recently restored, and the castle itself and surrounding area were extremely impressive to view from any angle. The castle’s outside is simply stunning, dressed in brilliant white plaster with white roofs, supposedly to resemble a bird taking flight. The inside however, was very plain. It lacked decorative furniture, and pretty much any indication of what life was like.
Along the way to Himeji, I met three girls from Paris; Anne, Diane and Noemie. They also spent the previous day in Koya-san, and were following the same route for the next few days. After chatting for a while on the train, we decided to spend those days together. I welcomed their company, and enjoyed practicing my French over great conversations.
We also shared our impressions and pictures of Japanese culture and things found only in Japan. Here are more observations on this interesting country:
- Food options are varied, allowing you to discover tastes beyond strictly Japanese food. After sushi, ramen noodles and rice dishes, variations of burgers, Korean and Italian food are thoroughly enjoyable.
- To keep eating expenses low, you can pass by a convenience store (the most popular are 7-11’s and Lawson), and pickup a ready-to-eat meal, which tastes surprisingly decent. Complimented with cafes for snacks and more upscale places for dinner, you can sample a bit of everything and still have pocket change.
- Paper money is always new. It’s like they constantly print new bills, so you never see older wrinkled ones.
- Nearly all restaurants play jazz music. I actually never paid attention to this until Anne pointed it out. From that point onward, we smirked as almost all places, from burger joints to classy steakhouses, played blues and/or jazz.
- The one thing that confused us was public smoking. It’s the only exception to a clean and efficiently run country. You cannot smoke while walking, so there are designated outdoor areas to smoke. But most restaurants and virtually all bars and pubs allow smoking. It’s annoying to be in a restaurant and have someone pollute the air, your clothes and your hair. I heard the government is slowly attempting to outlaw smoking in all public spaces, but until then, I’ve been avoiding many places.
Today was also the first day traveling by express train, also known as the bullet train. My GPS speed application tracked us moving at 300 km/h, yet the ride was impeccably smooth.
