Himeji Castle

    Himeji Jo is one of the most beautiful castles in Japan. It was supposedly built early in Japan's history. Norimura Akamatsu is said to have built a fort in 1333 and later his son, Sadanori built the premises of the fort. Both the Kotera and Kuroda clans ruled in this area. After the Sekigahara War a lord named Terumasa Ikeda moved into the castle to rule. He was the son in law to Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1601 Ikeda started to dig three moats around the castle and the entire castle was fully completed in 1609. It was later added onto in 1618. This castle was home of many powerfull warriors and some of them can still be seen in the registry books within the castles museum. Some of the samurai mentioned are from the Hontai Yoshin Takagi Ryu of Jujutsu. In 1992 Japan signed an agreement to make this castle part of the World Heritage committee. Most of the castle has been well preserved and is in original form today.