September 14, 2009: Kobe

Kobe at night.

Kobe pier.

Waiting for the train.

A few blocks away from Himeji castle.

View from one of the windows of Himeji castle.

Me with Himeji castle in the background.

The map of the grounds of Himeji castle.

A model of what they did to pass their time in Himeji castle.

A samurai inside the castle. He was with his girlfriend. Everyone was respectful and didn`t take pictures, but I couldn`t help myself.

Let me start a few weeks ago, before I started orientation/school in Japan.

Andre, from the Bronx, who went to the same High School as I went to (Dewitt Clinton), and was in the same AP English class a few years before me, had apparently been living in Kobe. I met him once in NYC, but didn’t remember him until I spoke to him on the phone and he reminded me of that time. Ms. Polan, my AP English teacher from High School, apparently sent Andre an email, and put in a good word for me. Maybe it’s because Andre didn’t really want to bother with meeting up with me, or wasn’t too interested but I’m glad Ms. Polan did that.

So I met up with Andre, who lives in Sannomiya, Kobe. He was very kind, agreeing to host me and provide a place to stay. He swore me to secrecy, so I am not allowed to reveal the décor of his apartment. We walked around Kobe during the day and night, walking into Kobe’s Chinatown as well. We went to Himeji castle next day. I think once you go to one castle in Japan, you might think they are all the same. The outside looks relatively similar. When you take the narrow and steep stair climb to the uppermost floors, you get a spectacular view of the city. But the inside has its small and big differences. Sometimes it’s almost like a museum, with pieces of history that represent the lifestyle of the samurai that lived in the castle rooms. Of course there are just a lot of empty rooms. As you humbly walk through and feel the grandeur of the respectable wooden rooms, you might stop and wonder how the samurai lived long ago. Or at least that’s what I did. What did they do in those rooms?

Behind the master’s headquarters, there was a place designated just for suicide. I guess when the war came to a close and the master realized he would be defeated and captured, to defend his honor he would kill myself. For a samurai, it was about honor. It was more honorable to kill yourself than to fall into the hands of the enemy.

The castles in Japan all seem very old (some older than others, I’m sure), but don’t be fooled, the truth is most of them had been rebuilt. Some of it was rebuilt very recently. Most of it was rebuilt a little farther back in history. They were rebuilt mostly because of the fires that were caused by local warfare. Himeji castle is the biggest castle in Japan.

I really want to see the castle in Kyoto (Nijo) and if I have time, the castle in Okasa (Osaka-jo). At KCJS (Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies) I am taking Japanese Civilization and Japanese Theater. I was reading the book for Japanese Civ class and it said that back then castles were usually built atop a hill as a defensive strategy. The master and his family didn’t live in the castle, but lived at the base of the hill, and used the castle when they were attacked.