Himeji Castle ('White Heron Castle'), begun 1346 and completed by Ikeda Terumasa in the early Edo period, is a National Treasure and UNESCO World Heritage Site — Japan's most celebrated castle. Surviving the Edo period entirely intact, it rises along the avenue from Himeji Station as an unmatched example of original castle architecture.

Founded in 1346 when Akamatsu Sadanori, military governor of Harima, built a fortification on Himeyama. In the 1550s Kuroda Shigetaka and Mototaka expanded it to a medieval castle; their heir, Kuroda Kanbei, was born here. In 1580 Hashiba Hideyoshi seized the castle as a base for his western campaig…