In 1993, Himeji Castle was designated as the first World Cultural Heritage site in Japan. Because of its striking beauty and elegance, it is popularly known as the "White Egret castle", but in fact it was an impregnable fortress.
Next, I would like to introduce you Engyoji Temple, where the movie "Last Samurai" starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe was shot. The temple is located about 6 kilometers northwest from the Castle. We can take a bus and a ropeway from Himeji station to the Temple.
at your hotel in Kobe or Osaka
It was placed in the set of "Last Samurai."
Because of its striking beauty and elegance, it is popularly known as the "White Egret castle"
Feudal Lord Garden of Himeji Castle
at your hotel in Kobe or Osaka
First, I would like to introduce you to the most famous castle in Japan.
In 1993, Himeji Castle was designated as the first World Cultural Heritage site in Japan. Because of its striking beauty and elegance, it is popularly known as the "White Egret castle", but in fact it was an impregnable fortress.
The entire castle is protected by massive walls of stones and the individual stones of all sizes are fitted together with superb skill. The path leading to the base of donjon is narrow, winding and runs uphill. As the crow flies, the distance from the first gate to the tower is about 130 meters, but attackers would have to climb a route at least three times longer. This woud confuse the attackers, leaving them exhausted or demoralizes.
Himeji Castle is one of the few castles that still has some of its original parts while other castles were destroyed during World War Ⅱ. In fact Himeji Castle had been in repair since 2009. The restoration work has finished and the restoration facilities are now being dismantled. The Castle will be open to the public on March 27th 2015 (this year!). . . Don't miss it !!
Next, I would like to introduce you Engyoji Temple, where the movie "Last Samurai" starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe was shot. The temple is located about 6 kilometers northwest from the Castle. We can take a bus and a ropeway from Himeji station to the Temple, taking about an hour. The precinct has a large Maniden, a big Lecture Hall, Jikido, or which was used in the Last Samurai, and other buildings. You can see a panoramic view of the entire city of Himeji.
Why don't you visit Himeji Castle and Engyoji Temple with me?
guide fee
・trasportation fee (you and your guide)
・ lunch
・ entrance fee
I guide you Sapporo, Furano, Otaru, Hakodate in Hokkaido / Aomori in Hokuriku / Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Kagoshima in Kyushu / Kochi, Matsuyama in Shikoku / Tottori, Shimane, Kanazawa, Sakaiminato in Japan Sea side. Please get in touch with me!!
Thank you.
Your transportation fee is 1,750yen and your entrance fee is 2,060yen per person.
We have used in various cities worldwide private tour guides but Hideo Y. ranks definitly under the top 3! In preparation of our trip I had a few conversations with him about the schedule and he always replied swift and gave precise answers pr proposals. So before arriving in Matsue we had an itinerary which was designed to fit our time schedule (pick-up at hotel and send us to Izumo airport at the end) for approx. 8hrs. He was on time and gave us first a timetable for the day (including bus costs - very important as you need to have exact amount available when getting on a bus!), maps with our tour and further info to remember our tour! Very well prepared. During our tour he new all details of the various spots and linked information from one spot to the other, so we got a very good understanding about the local history. We only can highly recommend him for English spoken groups!
I'm very glad to receive your excellent review. I'm very honored that I'm one of the top 3 guides accrding to your judge. My dream is to guide all the prefectures. For now I guided 24 prefectures, about the half of them. In the future I would like to continue to get the local information and prepare the tour. Thank you.
Hideo was punctual and knew his way through the labyrinth of the Japanese train and subway system. We would have been absolutely lost in Kobe without his guidance. He adjusted his tour itinerary so we could spend time in the onsen.
Thank you for your excellent review. We could enjoy seeing fresh green forest from Arima-Rokko Ropeway. We took a lot of vehicles such as shuttle bus, subway, ropeway, bus, cable car, and the like. And Arima onsen is one of the three oldest hotsprings. It has 2 public bathhouses called Kinsen (gold spring) and Ginsen (silver spring). Kinsen is said to be effective in curing various diseases such as neuralgia, rheumatism, and gastroenteritis. I wish you all the best for your good health and continued success.
Very informative and knowledgeable. Help us with savings on the transport and advised on places to see. Very friendly too.
We enjoyed having Osaka local food such as Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki, and kushikatsu for lunch. We went to most scenic spots by subway in Osaka. 1-day pass card was very convenient. I wish you and all your family good health and happiness. Thank you.
Hideo was a charming host, and everything ran very well, according to the plan he laid out. I had been wanting to see the Naruto whirlpool for a long time, and the spectacle of nature did not disappoint. The Tile museum was very intriguing in its own way. You bet to see reproduced masterpieces all in one space so it became easy to track a painters artistic progress throughout their lives rather than having to go to different countries to see art piecemeal.
I'm .very happy to receive your excellent review. Naruto whirlpool is one of the three greatest whirlppools in the world. We had a great time to watch the whirlpool at high tide. In the Otsuka Museum of Art, or The Tile museum, we could see about 1,000 full-scale paintings in porcelain panel. In particular Vatican's Sistine Chapel was represented in the front main hall. It was spectacular, wasn't it! I wish you all the best in the future. Thank you.