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context: architecture > medieval > castles
Himeji Castle
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The 'White Heron' castle is one of the most recogniseable of Japanese buildings, and possibly the world's best-known castle. It was built around 1581 (the current version dates from 1609) with decor by Kano Eitoku. The town around it was laid out by the great samurai and artist Musashi Miyamoto with defending against an attack in mind - very steep roads up with lots of twists and turns, tap areas and eleven massive doors. It was staffed and defended by 3,000 samurai.