Kansai 2013: Himeji

To celebrate my mother turning 49 this year, my family and I traveled to the Kansai Region of Japan. The whole trip was a free and easy tour, where I sat down at the computer and planned for months before the big trip.

We visited Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Himeji & Osaka over 10 days. Please click the link to get my itinerary around the Kansai region. I have to stress that we did not follow the itinerary strictly (sometimes not at all) because I was travelling with my parents and sometimes we were tired from travelling and skipped some attractions to have a rest/nap. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date of travel: 28 September 2013

Mount Shosha
While my parents were away at Golf, my sister and I took a train to Himeji. I really wanted to visit the temple where The Last Samurai was filmed. I watched it just a few months before I went to Japan and I was so intrigued by the whole way of the Samurai thing. The location of the film was just beautiful!

It was filmed up Mount Shosha, which is the site of Engyoji Temple, an atmospheric temple complex with a history of over 1000 years. Located at the edge of Himeji City, the mountain can be accessed in only 30 minutes from the city center by bus and cable-car.

Directions:

• Take Shinki Bus number 8 from either Himeji Station or Himeji Castle to the terminal stop "Mount  Shosha Ropeway" (書写山ロープウェイ, 30 minutes, 260 yen one way, departures every 15-20 minutes). 
• Then, take the Mount Shosha Ropeway up the mountain (500 yen one way, 900 yen round trip, departures every 15 minutes). 

A convenient ticket to use is the "Shoshazan Ropeway" combination ticket, which includes a round trip by bus from Himeji Station to the ropeway station and the ropeway round trip for 1,300 yen. It is available at the ticket counter of the Shinki Bus Terminal in front of Himeji Station.

Round trip ticket for bus and ropeway

Note that there are two bus terminals in front of Himeji Station, one for the white Himeji City Buses (on the right side of the main road when exiting JR Himeji Station), and one for the orange Shinki Buses (on the left side of the main road when exiting JR Himeji Station). You need to take a Shinki Bus.

.

Up to Mt Shosha via Ropeway

 As we headed up the ropeway, I noticed there were a lot of farms in Himeji despite the concrete jungle you see in the background. It was still a quiet and peaceful town.

If memory serves me well, the entrance ticket to visit the temples costs us 500Yen per person. You'll end up at the base of the mountain. if you want to hitch a ride up the mountain to the entrance of the temples with the buses they've provided, you need to top up another 500Yen per person!

My sister and I decided to save the money for lunch instead and hiked up!

Strolling up Mt. Shosha

 It was quite an alright walk. The weather was cooling and it was very shady with all the trees blocking out the nasty sunlight and heat. The only problem we faced was that the path up was very sandy. We were not complaining though, because we rather it be sandy than muddy!

Finally we're here!

There are about 5 temples within the Engyoji Temple vacinity. Most of which are within 5-10 mins walking distance and are accessible by paths through the trees or 'secret stone paths' behind the temples.

Walking to the next temple

We spent about 5 hours here just taking our own leisurely stroll through the woods, admiring all the beautiful trees and scenery.

The temples reminded me vaguely about the 'Last Samurai' movie, but there isn't one particular place which reminded me of a scene, as you can see from the photos below.

Corridors outside the temple.

Inside the temple

Temple Grounds

The Last Samurai Movie

Himeji City

After spending a few hours up the mountain, we went down to the city to grab a bite. It was almost 5pm and most of the shops and restaurants (affordable ones) were closing and did not want to serve us. :(

Himeji city

 We walked around the area opposite the Himeji Castle, there were plenty of shops and restaurants, however they were all closing. We just continue to walk nonetheless. We did not visit Himeji Castle though, as it was under renovation and we couldn't see much also anyway.

Beautiful sunset

 Eventually, we found a shop that sells all those souvenir sweets and snacks which were way more affordable than in Osaka, or all the other cities we've been. We bought about 10 boxes each!

Himeji streets

We basically roamed the streets hungry as most of the restaurants were closing. We went into the supermarkets and bought ourselves ice cream instead.

Sunset outside the station

Himeji is a very quiet and peaceful town, with lots of sights to offer. It can be visited in one day and you can just take a train out from Osaka, Nara or Kyoto. Bear in mind that Shinkansen will cost double the amount as compared if you take a JR Train, but will get you there at half the time.

We visited Himeji on a day visit as well. We took a JR train that took us about 1 hour. If you're visiting Himeji on a day trip, I'd advice you to purchase a 1 day JR Pass at the airport (the only place you can purchase a JR pass without visiting a Travel Agent). It will cost you about 2000 yen for 1 day pass, and your return trip if you purchase it at the JR Train station will cost you about 2400yen.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Check out my other posts about Japan: Kansai Region here:

• Kobe
• Kyoto
• Nara
• Osaka (Coming soon)