Hikone Castle

So I didn't have as much time as I thought I did last night, but anyway...

Hikone castle is one of the few castles remaing in Japan. Its a Japanese national heritage site and a fun weekend activity for tourists and families alike. A few of us students decided to check it out, so we suited up with our helmets and cameras and peddled our way out to the castle. The castle has a commanding view of the town, and you are able to see it from just about any street.

Once there we found a place to park our bikes and decided to head inside, but first we had to cross the moat.

Just the entrance was impressive; the huge stone walls would have been very difficult to scale. After buying our admission tickets for the castle tour we met Hiko-nyan the local town mascot.

The walkway upto the castle was impressive. Each step was inclined and a bit too long, so you couldn't just climb them normally.

 

Halfway up they had a gate with a large bridge that could be demolished in case of emergency.

Now coming up to the keep we had a great view of Hikone, the city spread out around us and Lake Biwa was glimmering in the sun.

 

Finally we got to the keep and had a majestic view of the traditional Japanese architecture.

 

The inside of the castle was interesting too, most of the joints in the beams did not use nails, instead the beams just fit together like big lincoln logs. All of the stairwells inside were intensly steep, It felt like more of a ladder than stairs. After getting out of the castle we were free to enjoy the view for a bit.