Himeji-jo

We traveled by train to the samurai castle of Himeji-jo during our winter vacation. This year we are trying to visit new places and revisit some favorites from last year.

Last year, we saw the inside of the castle and climbed all the way to the top floor on the ancient floor boards and steep stairs. On this visit we arrived early at the castle, but were so busy that we never made it inside. We did end up walking around the entire castle. We were able to see the wide moats and great walls. What was once a military fortification is now a park that many tourists and locals visit everyday. We saw elderly people strolling, fathers and their children jogging, kids playing at the climbing structure, and countless cherry trees.



We never made it inside the castle itself this year because the local history museum was so great. The kids enjoyed the dress up and traditional games room. They were able to try Kabuki masks, spinning tops. marble mazes, and other Japanese traditional toys.





















The museum also had
exhibits displaying Japanese toys and household goods from the last 150 years. The older toys were wood and metal figures with large metal springs that could dance when you turned a crank. They just did that one dance but children were able to watch it again and again back in those days.



In the 20th Century section, there were planes and cars that would zoom across the floor when the key on the back was turned. There were dress up dolls with traditional and western clothing.



The household items were more interesting for K and I. The TVs with tiny screens and huge boxes, the 4 inch wide heating coil for boiling a tiny pot of water, and a clothes washing machine with a ringer roller attachment. The items were so different from today's household appliances that E wasn't able to identify very many of them correctly. Somehow he did recognize the iron, although how he knew that one growing up in our house is anybody's guess. Maybe from using one to seal wax paper around fall leaves...