Construction at Himeji Castle Feb 2011
Construction. Reconstruction. Renovation. Refurbishing. Rebuilding. Call it what you like, it can be a real downer on a trip. There is nothing as depressing as walking up to a UNESCO World Heritage site and finding it under construction. Japan-guide.com does a lovely job of listing all tourist sites under construction, and we check it before every trip.
Construction forces a decision. Do you go anyway and gaze upon the artist’s rendering of the original structure under the construction cover? You did notice that, didn’t you? When the Japanese reconstruct a cultural relic, they cover it with a wind and rain proof structure that depicts the original structure that is obscured. Which is kind of interesting to see. And when you visit a town that is as centered around a single tourist feature like Himeji but don’t visit that feature you notice all the other things you may have missed. This shot, taken from the back of the castle, which I would never have visited were the castle open. A museum in the back featuring Samurai armor. A photo with Samurai employed to entertain the tourists since the castle was closed. A photo with Ninja’s dressed up for the same purpose.
But what if you don’t go anyway? What if you take the opportunity construction offers to alter your itinerary? Himeji was a no brainer. A world class castle 15 minutes from the Shinkansen station. How could you not stop? But construction frees us from the expected to seek out the extraordinary. To look at our itinerary with fresh eyes. It was this fresh look that took us to Hikone Castle with it’s views of mountain and lake. With Himeji off the table, the balance between travel time and quality of castle becomes complicated. Will we travel 2 hours from Nagoya to visit “The Crow”, Matsumoto Castle? Or will we go with the more accessible Nagoya Castle? Or will we attempt both? Could there be another castle lurking just outside our path waiting to be discovered???
Stay tuned…
ccs japan trip 