Opus 26

Himeji Castle with its white walls shimmering inthe sunlight like the feathers of a fantastic birdseems to be rising into the blue sky like a greatheron. This impression has given it the name»Castle of the White Heron«. The castle, whichhas nothing martial about it, on the contrary, itis extraordinarily elegant, is undoubtedly one ofJapan's most impressive fortresses. It was builtbetween 1601 and 1609, when the period of warwas almost over, and was used primarily for administrationand residence, with defence as asecondary role. Thus its aesthetic impact wasas important when it was built as its actual purposeas a fortification.The main building in the castle is the Tenshuor Tenshu-kaku in the northem part of the complex,a wooden structure about 46 m high. Itscomplicated intermediate roofs make it lookmore like a skyscraper than a tower.Himeji Castle represents an architectural typethat probably does not occur in other areas ofthe world. Large parts of the building wereclassified as »Kokuho State Treasure« as earlyas 1951, and others as »Important Cultural Property«. The building was placed on the WorldCultural Heritage list in 1993