Himeji

Today I was off to Himeji, widely considered to be Japan’s most beautiful of the surviving 12 feudal castles. The Japanese SHIRASAGI-JO, castle of the White Heron, pictures the grand, white-walled main tower as a bird sweeping into the air magnificently – an inspiration to Kurasawa for his film Ra.
It was busy, as one expects and among the other visitors there were groups of young children wearing same-coloured caps. Crossing one of the inner courtyards I noticed Japanese caressing the branches of a cherry tree no longer in bloom. I do not have a head for heights so I only progressed as far inside as to get a feeling for the darkness and steepness of the stairs. Once outside again I took great pleasure listening to the children, rejoicing from the top viewpoint - what a pleasant way to teach the history of your country to kids.