I've been meaning to go to Himeji for awhile and decided to take advantage of my full-day of daikyu and catch the train on a weekday to avoid the weekend crowds. The castle has been under renovation for a few years now and is nearly finished, but won't be completely done until March 2015. This didn't deter me from going and I decided to spend most of my day at Kokoen, a Japanese-style garden located right outside of the castle grounds. It consists of nine various gardens, each with different themes from the Edo period. If you're in the area, I highly recommend visiting this place because the the garden was breathtaking. It's about a fifteen minute walk from the station. As you're exiting, walk along the main street and you'll see Himeji Castle straight ahead--definitely can't miss it! If you go to the left of the castle, you'll find the entrance to the garden.
I arrived there right as they opened (9:00 and a 300 yen fee) and was able to enjoy the entire place to myself for a good two hours or so :) Everyone else was at the castle while I snapped picture after picture in the quiet, tranquil garden ^^ Some of the leaves had already started changing while others were still green so it was nice to see the colors blending together harmoniously.
Entrance to the garden
I loved crossing across the ponds on these stepping stones! ^^
Bamboo garden
Can you see the waterfall behind the trees? :D
Entrance to the tea house :)
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful week! I may be posting a little more than usual because I've been traveling a lot this month for the autumn foliage so I'll have more posts coming soon! :)
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