Took our time to get ready in the morning, as Himeji castle was the only thing on the agenda for today. According to everything I've read, tourist wise the city of Himeji is quite an unremarkable city, with the exception of Himeji castle. From what I've seen so far I would have to agree. The town itself seems fairly small, well laid out and relatively uncrowded. Veronica and Charlotte went downstairs for the typical Toyoko Inn breakfast of rice balls, miso soup and coffee, while I stayed in the room with Angela, who was not yet awake. We knew it was possibly going to be a decent walk today, so we didn't rush to get Angela awake. Once again Veronica said that the breakfast was very good. Not bad that it is included in the $75 per night room fee. We set out at about 9:30am and headed north. Through the rail underpass (as we are staying on the Southern side of the JR station), which leads more-or-less directly into the main shopping mall Himeji which is a very large mall which runs from the JR station North practically all the way to Himeji castle. As we walked through this mall we had to keep our wits about us for dodging powerwalking businessmen (obviously late for work), bicycles (as we have become very used to dodging in Japan) and the odd truck (as the mall is apparently open to delivery traffic). We survived, and emerged at the other side of the mall, which opened into a very large, and very empty park. Not particularly grassy, pretty or even useful, this park was a rare sight in our travels so far, and so much so I can't really see what the purpose of the park is. It would be an excellent location for setting up a massive fireworks platform for viewing from Himeji castle, but other that i'm not too sure what the purpose of this giant empty space was. Onwards through the park, and to the outskirts of the grounds of Himeji castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himeji_Ca stle). It is beginning to become apparent that the castle grounds are mammoth. A moat surrounds the outer castle wall, and the moat is absolutely alive with huge, obviously extremely well fed carp. At a guess I'd say the bigger of the fish were 700 - 800mm long. These fish absolutely fastinated the girls. Most of the fish were grey, but there was one small white fish, and one huge, bright orange fish which stood out whereever it went. As we walked along the pathway adjacent to the moat, the school of fish followed us, obviously expecting a feeding. Across the bridge through the huge fortified gates into the castle grounds, and from there on, every angle was a photo opportunity. The castle grounds were immaculate and obviously tended to perfection. The pathway leading up to the main castle entrance was lined on both sides by cherry blossom trees. To see this park in the spring blooming season I can only imagine would be indescribably beautiful, if not somewhat crowded. Speaking of crowds, today was again a very hot humid day, which again worked in our favor, as it kept the crowds down. It has been fantastic to walk through all of the attractions thus far, and only have to deal with moderate crowds at the tourist attractions, in comparison to the crowd numbers I have read about and seen pictures of. Onwards toward the main castle, and following the route through the pathways as it was originally designed, it is not hard to understand why the fortifications of this castle are famous. At every turn approaching the main castle you are being looked down upon by endless rows of guard portals, which were small ports, angled down, which allowed each guard, being either a rifleman or archer, to have a clear elevated view to the grounds below, as well as a limited and well defined field of fire. Needless to say that an enemy, had they managed the breach the outer wall and make it across the surrounding fields surrounding the castle, would not have lived through the ascent up the pathways toward the castle. Without such opposition, we continued upwards towards the entrance to the main castle. Climbing different gradients of steps, and navigating a series of small tunnels and low gates, we eventually arrived at the entrance chamber, where we removed and bagged our shoes, and continued onto the first floor. Following a defined pathway, past living quarters and other rooms, we continued upwards. On each floor, there were displays of memorabilia from the era. Two items I found very interesting was an original weapons rack, which still housed the rifles, staffs and powder bags of the guards, and a display of 2 sets of genuine samurai armour from the period. At each level, there was a narrow and steep staircase, which became narrower and steeper the higher we climbed. We wondered why there were no other families with children making the ascent. Now we know why.As we climbed higher, the rooms got smaller, and the staircases got steeper. Eventually we reached the top floor (which was open to tourists anyway), and we enjoyed the 360 degree views of all of Himeji, and the crossbreezes which seemed to penetrate the windows of this floor moreso than the other floors, making the temperatures on this floor almost feel like they were below 40 degrees. Almost. I can only imagine the heat that the residents of this castle must have suffered through at the height of the summer heat dressed in their period attire. So we made our way down the death stairs, and back through the labyrinth of pathways and tunnels back towards the exit. There are 83 buildings in the complex, as well as another legendarily beautiful Japanese garden further on into the complex, but we decided, due to the heat and the fact that Charlotte and Angela were tired and thirsty to find an exit and cut the tour short. No food or drink was allowed to be consumed past the entry gates, with signs posted everywhere, although we saw more than a few people ignoring these instructions. There were still many fascinating areas on the exit route though. One which interested me was the suicide chamber, which was a sunken courtyard with only one entrance and exit route, containing a pit, a platform and a series of elevated viewing stalls. It was not hard to imagine what went on in the very courtyard I was standing in hundreds of years ago. Another interesting piece of information I discovered on the journey to the exit, was that due to the lack of stones in the region when the stone walls were being constructed, stone coffins from the ancient tomb on the hills behind Himeji were transported to the castle, and used in the construction of the walls. The sign was directly in front of some large, strangely rectangular stones, so I can only assume that these were a couple of the actual stone coffins which were used. We got out to one of the outer flat grassed areas, which no doubt was to allow guards to have a clear shot at approaching enemies in open ground, and in this there was a tent set up, equipped with hosepipes and jets emitting a fine mist of water onto the tent occupants. Heaven. We spent a good 10 minutes in the tent, and due to the lack of crowds we weren't holding anyone up, so we took our time and made the most of it. So back out through the gates, and out came the drinks and ice-creams, at which point everyone came back to life after the refueling. Back through the huge park with no purpose, and through the shopping centre to find some lunch. Ome Rice looked good at one restaurant, so we decided to stop there. As the name suggests, ome rice is simply an omelette wrapped around rice and topped with any number and variety of toppings. My meal was a tomato rice topped with tomato sauce, and plain rice with mushrooms, topped with a hamburger and gravy. Veronica had a potato croquet with gravy on an ome rice serving, and one with chicken mornay. With that done, we decided to wander back to the hotel. Back through the tunnel that leads under the train line, I made a very interesting discovery. It a very dark, dischevelled and delapidated restaurant, were signage for the venues signature dish, Fugu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugu). If ever you wanted to dice with death for the sake of a meal and an adrenaline rush, this would have to be *the* place to do so. The fact that the restaurant looks quite dodgy would only add to the mistique. Minutes after we walked into the hotel lobby, the heavens opened in a torrential downpour. It didn't even look like it was going to rain, let alone bucket down like it did. I then appreciated not doing the additional elements of Himeji castle, because it is very possible that we may have been caught outside in the deluge. I had to spare a small thought to the people who would have been caught in the gardens of the castle, or worse still, in the maze of pathways and tunnels when the rain hit. Afternoon naps, and a quiet night. Tomorrow we move onto Osaka, which is bound to be a different paced city alltogether. Not much on the agenda for tomorrow, but we have Universal Studios planned for Friday, so hopefully if there is any more rain to come, that it hits tomorrow. At the moment though it is overcast but no longer raining, so maybe we have seen the last of the rain. Generally we have been very lucky with the weather, in that we have had a decent amount of rain, but it has never stopped us doing anything, or inconvenienced us at all. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the luck continues for the rest of the trip.