21 Sights in Himeji, Japan (with Map and Images)

Himeji Castle ( ) is a hilltop Japanese castle complex situated in Himeji, a city in the Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network of 83 rooms with advanced defensive systems from the feudal period. The castle is frequently known as Hakuro-jō or Shirasagi-jō because of its brilliant white exterior and supposed resemblance to a bird taking flight.

Wikipedia: Himeji Castle (EN), Website

Uofuki Hachiman Shrine is a shrine located at 193 Miyauchi, Aboshi-ku, Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture. It is also called "Tsu no Miya". It is said that it was founded by an oracle during the conquest of the Three Hans by Empress Shen Gong. One of the Hisada shrines of the Nakatomi Indatsu Shrine, which is the famous shrine of the Enki Shiki Shinto Name Book.

Wikipedia: 魚吹八幡神社 (JA)

Ōshio Tenmangu is a shrine located in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The official name is Tenma Shrine. The former company name is Gosha. The woolly lion dedicated at the annual autumn festival is an important intangible folk cultural property of Hyogo Prefecture.

Wikipedia: 大塩天満宮 (JA)

Gochakujo Castle (御着城, Gochakujo) was a castle in Japan located in Omiki (now Gokunino-cho, Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan). Since the castle was built on Mt. Chausu, it has another name of Chausuyama Castle, and it also has another name of Amakawa Castle because it used Amakawa as part of the moat.

Wikipedia: 御着城 (JA)

The Himeji City Aquarium is an aquarium located in Tegarayama Central Park in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture. It is rare among aquariums in Japan and is near the top of the mountain, also known as the "aquarium on the mountain".

Wikipedia: 姫路市立水族館 (JA)

Hiromine Shrine (広峯神社) is a Shinto shrine located in Himeji. It is one of the three main shrines of the Gion cult alongside Yasaka Shrine, and Tsushima Shrine. Until the Muromachi period the shrine was perceived as highly prestigious, on par with Kumano Taisha, but little remains of its past glory. In contrast to other shrines of the Gion cult the shrine is associated with agriculture.

Wikipedia: Hiromine Shrine (EN)

Itatehyozu Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Himeji, Hyōgo, Japan. It is located just outside of Himeji Castle. It is renowned for its Single Mountain Rite held every 60 years and Three Mountains Rite held every 20 years. The shrine's rituals are related to rituals at Iwa Shrine a famous nearby shrine. It is a Sōja shrine and enshrines all the gods of Harima Province. It is a Beppyo shrine, or a shrine that is particularly notable in a certain way with a significant history to it.

Wikipedia: Itatehyōzu Shrine (EN)

Hirohata Tenmangu (Hirohata Tenmangu) is a shrine located in Kitano-cho, Hirohata-ku, Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The former company name is Murasha. It is now called Hirohata Tenmangu Shrine, but when it was first built, it was called "Tenmansha" and later changed its name to "Tenma Shrine".

Wikipedia: 廣畑天満宮 (JA)

The Japan Toy Museum is a privately run museum located in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture. It is a facility equivalent to a museum under the Museum Act. Due to the scale and uniqueness of the collection, which has been collected over about 50 years, it is known around the world as one of Japan's leading toy museums.

Wikipedia: 日本玩具博物館 (JA)

The Memorial Tower for the Victims of the National War of the Pacific War is a non-religious memorial tower located in Tegarayama Central Park in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture. The sword thrust into the ground expresses the oath of non-war and was made to commemorate the victims of the city damaged by air strikes during the Pacific War.

Wikipedia: 太平洋戦全国戦災都市空爆死没者慰霊塔 (JA)

Tegarayama Exchange Station is a complex located in Tegarayama Central Park in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture. The former Himeji Municipal Monorail Tegarayama station building has been renovated and reused.

Wikipedia: 手柄山交流ステーション (JA)

The Himeji Science Museum is a comprehensive science museum in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, with four themes: the earth, local nature, science, and space. It is nicknamed "House of the Atom". The predecessor was the Himeji City Science Museum, which opened in 1965 in Tegarayama Central Park, and opened in April 1993 by relocating it. It is known for having one of the largest planetariums in Japan with a 27-meter diameter dome screen. It does not have a designated manager system and is directly managed by the Himeji City Board of Education.

Wikipedia: 姫路科学館 (JA)

The Himeji Central Park is a safari park in Himeji, Hyōgo, Japan. The park opened in March 1984, and is the only safari park in Kansai region. It has a "sister park" agreement with Nairobi National Park, Kenya. The park also incorporates an amusement park. It is operated by Himeji Park Management , a Kamori Kankō Group company.

Wikipedia: Himeji Central Park (EN), Website

Matsubara Hachiman Shrine is a shrine (Hachimangu) located in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The former company name was a prefectural company. The Autumn Grand Festival is commonly known as the Nada Fighting Festival.

Wikipedia: 松原八幡神社 (JA)

The Himeji City Cultural Convention Center (Himeji Shibunka Convention Center) is a complex facility located in Kamiyacho, Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture. His nickname is Akurie Himeji. The Himeji City Cultural Convention Center Management Consortium is the designated administrator.

Wikipedia: 姫路市文化コンベンションセンター (JA), Website

The Azuki Museum is the world's first museum dedicated to azuki, opened in 2009 by Gozakei, which was integrated with a garden and restaurant next to the company's main factory in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture. The official name is the Gozakei Azuki Museum.

Wikipedia: あずきミュージアム (JA)

Himeji Monolith (Himeji Monolith) is a restaurant and wedding hall run by Novarese in Soja Honmachi, Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture. The exterior of the building of the former Ministry of Communications is the same as it was at that time, but the entire surface is covered with brown scratch tiles, and a large vertical window with a white frame is attached. In addition to being designated as an Important Building in the Himeji City Urban Landscape (No. 27), it is registered as a national registered tangible cultural property.

Wikipedia: 姫路モノリス (JA)

Mizuo Shrine (水尾神社, Mizuo Jinja) is a shrine located in Yamanoi-cho, Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. It sits at the foot of Mt. Man. The Mizuo Shrine in the town of Atomi in the same city is also read as "Mizuojinja".

Wikipedia: 水尾神社 (姫路市) (JA)

The Himeji City Peace Museum is a museum about war (Peace Museum) located in Tegarayama Central Park in Nishinobusue, Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture. Near the facility, a memorial tower for the victims of the bombing of the Pacific War has been erected.

Wikipedia: 姫路市平和資料館 (JA)

The Hisagozuka Kofun (瓢塚古墳), also known as the Yoro-Hisagozuka Kofun (丁瓢塚古墳), is a kofun burial mound located in the Katsuhara neighborhood of the city of Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, in the Kansai region of Japan. The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site in 1978.

Wikipedia: Hisagozuka Kofun (Himeji) (EN)

Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of History opened to the immediate northeast of Himeji Castle in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan in 1983. The collection of over 200,000 items includes one Important Cultural Property — a painting on silk of the parinirvana of the Buddha, dating to the Kamakura period — and five Prefectural Tangible Cultural Properties.

Wikipedia: Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of History (EN)