Himeji Castle (姫路城; -jō) is located in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
It is one of the oldest surviving structures from medieval Japan, and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Japanese National Cultural Treasure. Along with Matsumoto Castle and Kumamoto Castle, it is one of Japan's "Three Famous Castles." It is occasionally known as Hakurojō ("Snowy Heron Castle") because of its brilliant white exterior.
Himeji Castle frequently appears on Japanese television. Edo Castle (the present Kokyo) does not have a keep, so when a fictional show such as Abarembo Shogun needs a magnificent substitute, the producers turn to Himeji.
History
The castle was conceived and constructed during the Nanboku-cho era of the Muromachi period. In 1346, Akamatsu Sadanori planned a castle at the base of Mount Himeji, where Akamatsu Norimura had constructed the temple of Shomyoji . After Akamatsu fell during the Kakitsu War , Yamana clan briefly took over planning of the castle; the Akamatsu family took over again following the Onin War.
In 1580, Toyotomi Hideyoshi took control of the castle, and Kuroda Yoshitaka built a three-story tower.
Following the Battle of Sekigahara in 1601, Tokugawa Ieyasu granted Himeji Castle to Ikeda Terumasa . Ikeda embarked on an eight-year expansion project that brought the castle roughly to its current form. The last major addition, the Western Circle, was completed in 1618.
Himeji was one of the last holdouts of the tozama daimyo at the end of the Edo period. In 1868, the new Japanese government sent the Okayama army, under the command of a descendant of Ikeda Terumasa, to shell the castle with blank cartridges and drive its occupiers out.
When the han system was abolished in 1871, Himeji Castle was sold at auction. Its final price was 23 yen and 50 sen. However, the cost of dismantling the castle proved to be prohibitive, and as a result it was abandoned.
The Tenth Infantry Regiment occupied Himeji Castle in 1874, and the War Ministry took control of the castle in 1879. The main tower was renovated in 1910 using 90,000 yen in public funds.
Himeji was bombed in 1945, at the end of World War II. Although a nearby middle school was burned completely to the ground, the castle survived almost entirely unscathed, except for a few stray impacts from nearby.
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