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Published: September 25th 2013
I slept in longer than I intended to on Wednesday, so I missed breakfast at the hotel. No matter, I was heading off on my first rail day trip so I grabbed some sushi and sandwiches (in case I didn’t like the convenience store sushi) to eat on the train. First task though, was to pick up my rail pass. It all went smoothly, and it was a simple enough to find the next train to Hikone.
Both sushi and sandwiches were fine. I don’t get why the sandwiches didn’t have crusts though. The ones I had on the train to Kyoto on the first night were the same. The train journey was a pleasant way to travel, although I had to keep aware of the stations so I got off at Hikone. That was pretty easy though due to the signs having Roman characters as well as Japanese, so no dramas. The trip was about 45 minutes.
At the station it was easy to work out which way to exit the station – one was labelled “Castle View”. Sure enough, through the window I could see a large hill in the middle of the
city, with a lovely white castle on top. Before heading there though, I went looking for the tourist information centre that is apparently at most stations. I found it and the lady there both welcomed me and thanked me profusely for visiting. That made me happy, but I was a little surprised because Hikone is one of the 4 national treasure castles in Japan and I expected it to be well visited.
Anyway, with a map and an idea of the other attractions in the town (most of which I didn’t get to), I headed off down the road to the castle. It was about 15 minutes until I crossed the first moat. The stone walls around the castle are huge and apparently somewhat rare examples of a particular style that emulates a mountainside. After taking some photos I headed to the ticket office and bought a ticket that included the castle, the museum and the Genkyuen garden.
The museum was right next door to the ticket office so I headed there first. Inside was an impressive, albeit small, display of items owned by the Li family throughout the life of the castle. The
Li family were the feudal lords who built the castle and controlled Omi province after helping Tokugawa Ieyasu win the civil war. They were important ministers for the Tokugawa shoguns until the Meiji Restoration in the latter half of the 19
th century.
Inside the museum there were some arms and armour, but many more masks and costumes from Noh plays. Not to worry, I’m sure I’ll be sick of seeing swords and such before this trip is over. The museum is actually inside one of the castle’s buildings (not within the main keep though), so the final part of the museum is simply a look around the building. It was interesting enough, and the gardens were nice.
After putting my shoes back on (if you enjoy wearing slip-on shoes, you will get on well in Japan) it was time to tackle the castle. It was a reasonably hefty climb for a hot day, but enjoyable. One benefit was the great views from the castle grounds. Looking back towards the station there were some nice mountains on the other side of the city and in the other direction were lovely views of Lake Biwa, the
largest lake in Japan.
After looking around the grounds and taking lots of photos, I had a drink and a sit-down before heading into the keep (or, more correctly, the donjon). It was during this rest that I realised I hadn’t seen a single westerner at Hikone. There were a decent number of Japanese tourists (nothing like the crowds in Kyoto though) but no westerners besides me. I did later see a group arrive as I was leaving (actually I heard them first because they were American).
Heading into the keep and it was shoes off again. There were some lovely breezes coming in the windows, which was nice. I also learnt an interesting fact about the small firing ports (for guns and/or bows) – apparently they were plastered over to keep the weather out. In case of emergency (i.e. someone attacking the castle) the plaster was broken and the ports were used much like arrow slits in European castles.
Climbing around inside the keep was actually quite difficult. The stairs to go up were almost ladder-steep, which was difficult while carrying both my camera and shoes. I think the fellow
Some Japanese armour
Hikone Castle museumwho warned me about the danger said they were 60 degrees. The effort was worth it though, because the views were even greater from the top of the keep. The woodwork inside was also impressive, especially considering Hikone is one of just 12 Japanese castles considered to be original (besides the second world war and accidental destruction, many castles were destroyed during the Meiji Restoration because they were symbolic of the former feudal rulers).
It was now 3pm so I headed back down the hill via a different gate and headed to the Genkyuen garden. This garden was created for the Li Daimyos and is apparently based on a Chinese Imperial palace garden, for which it is named. It was quite a nice place to walk around. The paths meandered around a small lake (or large pond) and had some picturesque bridges crossing it. There is also a building from the palace that was the original reason for the garden, but it wasn’t open.
When I finished looking around the garden, I decided to head back to the station and catch the train to Kyoto. It was a little confusing because the next train
A painted screen
Displaying the battle of Sekigahara - Hikone Castle museum was “local”, instead of the “rapid” one I caught to Hikone but from what I can gather, they mean “all stations” and “express” respectively and both stop at Kyoto. So I took the local train instead of waiting 20 minutes for the rapid. It took just over an hour, so I don’t know which one actually arrived in Kyoto first.
Either way, it was interesting watching Japan race by. The entire distance from Kyoto to Hikone seemed to be populated, with patches of farms around. On the way back, I noticed a baseball field with nets hanging from large poles to keep the balls in. Later, I saw a similar structure but quickly realised it was massive – I’m sure it was over twice the height of the baseball one (which wasn’t small!). I saw a few more before I actually saw one near the train line and could see what they were – golf driving ranges. They seemed a bit over the top, but as one of them looked to be next to the Shinkansen line, I guess you can’t be too careful.
All in all, the first day trip was a success.
A wakizashi sword
Hikone Castle museum The rail system was easy to navigate, and it was great to get off the major tourist path (western tourists, anyway). Due to a late start and time spent on the train, it wasn’t as tiring as the last two days. I will still sleep pretty well though.
Tomorrow, I’m off to another national treasure castle – Himeji. It’s supposed to be fantastic, except for the restoration work going on at the moment. Still, it should be a good day.
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