A few posts ago I was considering making a 10 year anniversary visit to Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.

Try making Himeji out of Nanoblock!

Last time I went, I had 3 small but exicted and fast young kids … who kept me very busy up and down thin and steep stairwells, and crazy mazes ….. anyone done Himeji with kids?

It was also winter and I froze !

So 2010 with a few kids more grown-up and a few more kids still little, I thought I would give the castle another go. However, luckily when I tweeted out my plans, someone warned me that the main keep is being renovated! Thank you twitter and cyber friends … actually I am thankful to @japanesecastles for the update.

Imagine washing all those tiles!! Try building instead? Click through to find out!!

The renovation work is a full-scale project, focusing on the damaged plaster walls and it will replace the roof tiles as well. It is the first project of this kind in 50 years and the renovations will take 5 years!

How much plaster will be needed you might ask to restore Himeji?

The 7,000-square-meter walls of the main donjon, the backs of the eaves and the joints between the roof tiles will be plastered three times during the renovations. The 250 tons of plaster required for the process is nearly 1-1/2 times the weight of a jumbo jet.

Wow!

During this time of course the scaffolding will prevent those fabulous white castle shots that Himeji is known for.
(It sort of reminds me of the huge project centered around York Minister in the 1990′s … did anyone see that restoration process?)

But the best bit of the renovation/restoration process was hearing that the castle’s 80,000 roof tiles, weighing about 160 tons will be removed from the roof, washed with water and then dried and hammered to see if they are in good enough condition to be reused. Now that will be a long and drawn out process of love and dedication!!!

The scaffolding is planned to be removed in 2014 …. however during the renovation process I suppose visitors will be able to get a look at the repairwork.

Still I think I will wait another 4 years to re-visit with my brood!

If you are in to hobbies and love your castles … click on this photo to go through to purchase a Nanoblock Himeji kit on Amazon – I was amazed to find this …. looks great for those who love to create miniature versions of this kind of treasure.

Want to know more about Nano Block …. take a look at this great post by shibuya246.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Have you got a favourite Japanese castle?

One of my favourites, is Himeji Castle which was built in 1346. It has a brilliant white exterior, with 83 wooden buildings in total and it is possibly the most visited castle in Japan.

An important characteristic of Himeji Castle is the confusing maze of paths that lead to the main keep. This kept us busy on our visit!

Incredible castle to visit

Another key feature of Himeji Catle has appeared in a quite a few movies. It also frequently pops up on Japanese television.

We visited Himeji in January 2000. It was freezing. And taking off our shoes to wander around the castle in stockinged feet was a huge effort!!! The stairs were narrow and steep. And there was a lot of walking to be done.

But what a wonderful piece of history. I have often thought I must organise another trip in warmer weather…. perhaps 2010 will be the year to re-visit Himeji – a Castle that has stood for nearly 700 years!

Of course if you cant make it all the way to Himeji the castle museum has organised a virtual tour. Wonder what the residents of Himeji would have made of that hundreds of years ago…. breach of security?

But I was not overly impressed with the virtual tour….. much better to go and feel, see and smell the castle for yourself!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.