Dancing Egrets - Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle is the most beautiful and magnificent castle in Japan, and one of the few early castles. It was built in 1333, and the five-story, six-level (inner layer) main keep and three small keeps that have been preserved to this day were built in 1580 by order of the samurai Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and later expanded by the samurai Ikeda Terumasa in 1608. Its beautiful shape, multiple roofs and gables, and white plastered walls resemble a group of dancing egrets, hence it is also known as the "Egret Castle". Himeji Castle is a World Cultural Heritage Site and a Japanese National Treasure.