Himeji Castle, in the Hyôgo prefecture in Japan, is without a doubt the paradigm of the Japanese castle and Japanese defensive architecture.
The castle of the white crane, or the white heron, is what this colossal structure of towers and whitewashed walls is popularly known, which stands on Princess Hill (Hime).
Tracing its origins back to the first fortifications on this hill, back in the 17th century XIV, until the latest additions in the 17th century, we can study the history of some of the most important rulers in Japanese history.
MarJapanese eagle
Kagemusha
The influence of this work of art of defensive architecture has survived to this day thanks to numerous references in cinema of all genres. For example, we can see Himeji Castle in the films Kagemusha y Ran by Akira Kurosawa, or in the film We only live Twice with Sean Connery as agent 007.
It is also a castle that has appeared in the video games of the saga. Civilization. Finally, the Okiku well found in the castle, as well as its macabre legend, served as inspiration for filmmaker Hideo Nakata in his work Ringu, which has later been converted to Western cinema under the title The Ring, creating an entire mythical saga of horror cinema.
In fact, apart from the female ghost of the well, Himeji Castle has another series of ghostly legends that also make it a destination for lovers of supernatural phenomena tourism.
Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
Himeji in numbers
Characteristic structure
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Content coordinated together with Marcos Sala Ivars, Dr. Art History.
