Amagasaki Castle Ruins Park

Historical notes from J-Castle website -

Amagasaki Castle was built in 1617 by Toda Ujikane. It completely enclosed an earlier Sengoku period castle built by the Hosokawa clan under Hideyoshi. Amagasaki Castle was located at a strategic point where 2 rivers flow into the ocean. with boat landings in the castle grounds so boats could enter the moats directly. The castle had three baileys and three water moats that spiraled around the honmaru bailey which housed a four level main keep and large 3 level yagura. The castle was dismantled in 1873 under the Castle Abolishment act. Much of the stone in the stone walls was repurposed to make an ocean break wall.

The castle was reconstructed between 2018 and 2019.

This and That in Himeji

This is in the hotel toilet. I didn't use it all up.

This was lunch at a little place across the road from the castle grounds.

Kokoen Garden

Kokoen Garden is next to Himeji Castle and consists of nine walled gardens in various styles from the Edo period.

It was magical and serene to travel from one area to another.

Himeji Castle

This is my second visit to Himeji Castle. I visited in 2018 and posted about the inside here and the outside here. I took fewer photos this trip.

Historical notes from J-Castle:

Himeji Castle's early history dates to the 14th century when Akamatsu Norimura built a fortification on this site. Himeyama Castle was then built by his son in 1346. The castle starts to come into prominence during the Sengoku Period when it was renovated by the Kuroda Shigetaka in 1545. In 1580, Nobunaga took control of Harima proving and placed it under the control of Toyotomi Hideyoshi who remodeled the castle and built a small keep. You can still see some of the remnants of Hideyoshi's castle in Himeji castle as Ikeda incoporated some of the stone walls and gates into his castle. Ikeda Terumasa, an ally of Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara, was awarded this province (Harima) for his alliance during the war. Ikeda Terumasa built the main keep of Himeji-jo and erected the castle as it is known today. Himeji-jo's nickname Shirasagi-jo means "White Heron Castle" because the main keep with its three smaller towers resembles a white heron. Himeji-jo was granted "World Heritage" status by UNESCO in 1993.

(If you are interested in Japanese Castles, check out the links on my Castle Page to see the castles I've visited.)